The Cure
by bemypiperc
Summary: Piper is used to fighting alone against the demons of her past and letting anyone in is impossible for her. Something about Alex feels different to her but will she be able to let Alex in? Will she learn to trust Alex and will their trust for each other save them from the hardships life throws their way? High School AU. Inspired by The Cure's lyrics.
1. Gone

**A/N:** This is my first time actually publishing a fic of mine like this so I'm kinda nervous. But basically the band The Cure has always reminded me strongly of Vauseman so I got this idea to write a fic of them to their songs. To be clear, this is a one big story but each chapter features one of their songs and you can recognize the song from the lyrics written in bold in each chapter and the name of the chapter represents the song in the chapter. If you want to, you can listen to the song while reading, but the lyrics are more important from the story's view. Also, English isn't my first language so I'm sorry for any grammar mistakes. If you like the story (it'll get better from this first chapter I promise) please leave a review, a favorite - anything is very appreciated. I obviously don't own the characters or the lyrics/music. Thank you for reading in advance!

* * *

 ** _Oh you know how it is_**  
 ** _Wake up feeling blue_**  
 ** _And everything that could be wrong is_**  
 ** _Including you_**  
 ** _Black clouds and rain and pain in your head_**  
 ** _And all you want to do is stay in bed_**

Piper Elizabeth Chapman was about to start her junior year at a new high school, expecting nothing and feeling rather miserable. She had learned to live without having any expectations and would rather cope with being filled with doubts and insecurities when it came to new situations like this. She was used to things not going her way. It had annoyed the young 10-year-old Piper massively but the growing pains that followed that age really taught her a thing or two about trying to find her place in this world. And it turned out that she still hadn't found it, no matter how much she had tried through the years.

Normally before starting the new school year she would go to the hairdresser to get her blonde hair to shine so that everyone would be jealous, she would buy her school books weeks before the actual studying even began because her parents demanded her to get good grades and she would think about her outfit for the first school day the night before. That was definitely not the case this time. She didn't have money for the hairdresser, let alone for the school books. Her blonde hair was definitely not shiny at all and it didn't look as good as it had done before. It reached her chest but the ends of her locks were really frizzy and dry. Her dark roots had overgrown and she had tried to dye them back to blonde with some supermarket bleach but it clearly had not worked because her roots were still harsh brown. She just wanted them to grow a little more quickly so the look would be considered fashionable on some level instead of plain neglect. Not that she cared that much about her hair anyways right now, she had bigger things to worry about. Not having the school books would draw much more attention than her hair, especially after must having the books on even the first day had been highlighted in every handout and newsletter they got from the school during the summer. It was already 11pm but Piper hadn't had even the tiniest bit of motivation to get up from her bed to pick an outfit ready for tomorrow. She couldn't care a less about what she looked like. She felt like she had no need to make a good first impression on anyone. In fact it felt kinda free to not care, but deep down she was really afraid that the ghosts from her past would come back and play a big part in her upcoming high school journey. She had been bullied for years, some days less so that it wouldn't bother her too much and she could leave it behind right away but some days it was too much for her and she couldn't get it out of her even by crying for several hours after school in her room to ease her pain. The pain from her past haunted her vividly even up to this day and she couldn't calm down in her bed when trying to sleep. Her reckless thoughts were running around in her mind and when she finally fell asleep, she saw nightmares about the upcoming year. She didn't feel safe, even in the comfort of her own bed, because of these nightmares. She saw herself all alone, being laughed at, not having a single friend and trying to cope with everything all alone even though it hurt like hell. Unfortunately she was used to it. If she had to name one thing, that was the thing she was the most scared of. She was afraid but somehow in the back of her mind she had a tiny bit of hope for this year. Maybe she could make a friend and have someone to hold on to. This was a new beginning after all.

After the night of waking up every once a while because of her horrible nightmares and feeling like she couldn't possibly face the new school because of her fears, she somehow managed to get herself up from the bed, changed her clothes, brushed her teeth, packed her bag and made her way to school. Maybe the reason why she managed to get going was the last strain of hope she was holding on to.

* * *

 ** _So you know how it is_**  
 ** _Wake up feeling grey_**  
 ** _Nothing much to think and nothing much to say_**

* * *

When she stepped in the classroom she felt that remaining hope escape her body as quickly as it came in the first place and to be honest she wasn't even surprised. She found herself comparing herself to every one of the girls that she could see within her reach. They were super beautiful in her opinion. Everything that she wanted to be. They had their hair on point for the first day and quickly enough Piper found her hand making her way to the top of her head, trying to make her hair look somehow better. The girls had their faces full of makeup and their clothes were exactly what Piper would've liked to wear if she had the money for brand clothes. She looked down at herself and felt uglier than in ages when she saw her old Adidas Superstar shoes that were not white anymore, but stained, and the soft yellow toned floral romper that she had on was her aunt's old one and had probably been out of fashion for years already. Piper didn't care about fashion but she knew these girls did. Wearing something that they thought was out would get you in trouble without even saying anything. They didn't care about you, they cared about your image. Piper noticed how everyone slowly found their way to the classroom and sat down with their friends so she woke up from her thoughts and walked to one of the desks that was still free and sat down. Luckily it was a desk for only one person so she didn't have to share it with anyone. She could hear a low hum inside her ears, probably caused by the anxiety she was feeling towards everything happening around her. People coming to the classroom were talking loud and laughing with their friends, leaving Piper to be the only one alone in the middle of the class. They surrounded her and the teacher yelled at them to be quiet. Some of the bold ones screamed something rude to the teacher but Piper didn't even realize what they said because she was too busy trying to keep herself from running out of the door in tears. She kept doing the same thing when the teacher said that they were going to do an introduction round. _Who thought that would be a good idea? Straight from the kindergarten,_ Piper thought and listened to the popular girls introducing themselves. Stella, Daya, Maria and Madison. Those were the names of the most beautiful but yet the most arrogant seeming ones. In a while it was about to be Piper's turn and she could feel her heart beating in her throat and she could hear it in her ears. She was trying to think about how she should say her name so that it wouldn't sound stupid. Who would name their child Piper anyways? It was like asking for your child to be bullied. At least that's what Piper thought. She hated her name.

"And who is this jaded dandelion?" one of the mean girls shouted from Piper's left side. She could feel the anxiety slowly but surely creeping up her spine and that comment made it even harder for her to open her mouth to get some clear words out.

"Madison Murphy, I heard you very well", their teacher Mr. Healy said with a surprisingly bold tone in his deep voice. His voice made him sound like a tough guy but he definitely wasn't one. Somehow it still made Piper's confidence grow back for a second and during that short period of time she managed to introduce herself. She flashed a shy smile to her teacher

"I'm Piper Chapman", Piper mumbled out and looked around her, trying her best to meet up with as many pairs of eyes as she could, but when it started to feel like it was too much for her, she awkwardly turned back to Mr. Healy's direction and waited for something to happen. She thought the teacher would like to hear the next student's name, but no. Piper should've guessed that the comment from Mr. Healy would only light up a fire inside of a student like Madison and she thought it was rightful for her to speak again.

"What kind of a surname is that? And your first name is even worse!" Madison laughed out loud, dragging Stella, Maria and Daya to it with her too. They all laughed and some of the boys started to laugh too because they obviously wanted to make an impression on the girls. "What do you answer to that, huh?" Piper could feel the anxiety and the fury inside of her grow to enormous amounts but the anxiety won and she didn't have the strength to come up with something clever to say to this Madison girl, so she stayed quiet, tried her best not to cry and show how weak she was. She looked at Mr. Healy, asking for help with her eyes but he didn't have the balls to say anything. Piper guessed so. When Piper was about to take her bag and run away, someone in the last row stood up so that their chair almost fell and it let out a sound so loud that it made Piper turn around before leaving. She looked at the person and was surprised when she saw the angry look on her face. The person who stood up was tall, she looked like she was ready to conquer the world. She was incredibly beautiful in her black hair and glasses that made her eyes really stand out. She was dressed in a white t-shirt, tight black jeans and a leather jacket. She was intimidating in Piper's opinion but there was something different in her. Piper thought she was as beautiful as the popular girls to say the least, but something in her didn't make Piper anxious and she didn't see her as a threat. Piper was amazed, staring at her questionably. Something in this unknown girl made her feel like running away wouldn't be the answer in this situation. So Piper decided not to run away.

"That's enough, big mouth. What makes you think you can talk to another human being like that? Don't you have any empathy inside of you?" The girl who was standing up spoke and looked at Madison. She was ready to pick up a fight and it made Piper wonder why she was doing this. Piper looked at her and Madison after one another and heard how the girl raised her voice. "You're a heartless bitch. You should think about how you act, it's not acceptable at all. And please think before you open your disrespectful mouth the next time."

* * *

 ** _Don't want to talk, don't want to try_**  
 ** _Don't want to think, don't want to know_**  
 ** _Who, what, where, when or why_**

* * *

"Hey, Piper, wait!" Piper heard a low toned shout behind her when she was walking away on the school corridor, her hands holding onto her bag tightly, hoping it would make her nervousness disappear. She didn't recognize the voice so she had to think about turning around for a while. Eventually she turned around and was pleasantly surprised when she saw the raven haired beauty from her class reaching her. Piper was totally took by a surprise when she realized she remembered her name. Her stupid, ugly name.

"Wh… who are you?" Piper could mumble out while looking at the girl that was now standing straight in front of her, looking back at her with her chartreuse green eyes. They were beautiful and the sun that was reaching her pale face made them glisten.

"My name's Alex", she answered and smiled at Piper. "I'm sorry for what I did in the class, I wasn't sure if it was something you'd appreciate but I couldn't stand it so I had to open my mouth."

"Nice to meet you Alex", Piper smiled back at her, "no it's totally okay, thank you so much for doing it. I would never have the nerve to stand up for myself like that so it was actually really nice. I really appreciate it."

"I thought so", Alex said with a smirk on her face. It made Piper think about the fact that Alex could be just playing with her too. What if she did this only to get a chance to make more fun of her in the future? To get closer to her and then use all the information about her to turn it against her. Piper felt more uncomfortable than she even realized and the thought of running away started to sound like a good plan again. She was sure she wouldn't be able to take this if every day was even slightly similar to this morning only.

"I have to go", Piper said quietly and turned around in a rush but all of a sudden she felt a grab on her shoulder. Alex turned her back to her direction.

"Do you think you're gonna get away that easily?" Alex asked jokingly and laughed. It brought painful memories to Piper's head and she pushed Alex's hand down from her shoulder with a scared look on her porcelain face. She took a step back. She thought Alex was going to bully her just like everyone else before. Those words Alex just said were more than familiar to her.

"Please stop, I can't take this." Alex realized what she had done and was surprised of Piper's reaction. _She can't possibly be this broken_ , Alex thought. But she was and Alex felt the biggest need inside of her chest to fix Piper.

"I'm so sorry! I just meant to ask you if you would like to hang out with me someday?"

* * *

 ** _You don't want to sing, you don't want to play_**  
 ** _You don't want to swing, you don't want to sway_**  
 ** _All you want to do is nothing_**  
 ** _On a day like today_**

* * *

Piper was lying on her bed in the comfort of her thick duvets, trying to sleep but once again her thoughts were keeping her wide awake. She couldn't stop thinking about the incidence with Alex. She couldn't stop thinking about how stupid and weak she must've looked when she thought Alex was going to hurt her but that was the way she reacted to simple things nowadays. She couldn't stop thinking about the tone Alex had in her voice when she asked her to hang out because somehow it gave Piper a feeling that she could be trusted, but at the end of the day she wasn't completely sure. She couldn't stop thinking about how damaged she really was and how she didn't have any idea how to fix herself or even begin to fix herself. She just knew that she needed to do something about it before everyone at school saw it. Something about this Alex girl really intrigued her. _Maybe this is a good thing_ , she thought to herself before she finally fell asleep.

 ** _If you do that you'll be missing the world_**  
 ** _Because it doesn't stop turning whatever you heard_**  
 ** _If you do that you'll be missing the world_**  
 ** _You have to get up, get out and get gone_**  
 ** _You have to get up, get out and get living_**


	2. Taking Off

**A/N:** Thank you so much for all the reviews, favorites, follows... every single one of them means so much to me! I tried to put this second chapter out as quickly as possible for you guys. I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

 ** _Tomorrow I can start again with back to earth and carry on_**  
 ** _The same as I did yesterday, yeah I'll pick it up once more_**  
 ** _And morning I'll be onto it from square one start_**  
 ** _And push it for a bit like I do everyday_**

Piper had woken up to a brand new day, unfortunately feeling even worse than the day before. At first she wasn't sure where the negative feelings welled from but when she wasted a minute to think about it, it didn't take her even that long to realize it was all because of school and all the teasing that happened there yesterday. She didn't want to face the people there again, especially not the girls to teased her. Even though nothing super bad happened the day before, she was still scared enough to be ready to skip the whole day. She thought about that as a possible option but when she remembered her plans with Alex she brushed the thought of skipping school aside. When they met at the school corridor and Alex asked her to hang out, Piper had promised her that they could hang out after school on the following day. Today. Piper knew the school day would be absolute hell for her because she had heard Madison screaming on top of her lungs about the classes she has on the corridor and noticed she had many same classes with her. Piper hadn't really had the time to think about it yesterday because she couldn't stop thinking about Alex. It was so unusual for her to be social like that and especially with new people, just because she was afraid. For the first time in a few years she actually was looking forward to get to know someone. Alex. Piper couldn't wait for the afternoon to get to know more about Alex. She only had to survive the school day.

And she did. They had talked about meeting at the same spot where they talked about their plans yesterday and when Piper walked out of her last class she already saw Alex standing at the exact spot. She was talking to a shorter girl who's hair was light brown with some orange undertone in it. Piper could see the girl's eyes from far away, they were huge and beautiful. Piper felt ugly. Why was literally everyone in this school more beautiful than her? Alex and her friend were laughing about something and Piper didn't have the courage to interrupt them so she started to walk slower until she was only a few meters away from Alex and they still hadn't stopped. Alex's friend noticed Piper standing awkwardly there, looking like a lost puppy and smiled to her widely. _She looks friendly_ , Piper thought and at the same time she approached Piper just like she had somehow heard her thoughts.

"Vause, is this the blonde one you told me about?" The girl grabbed Piper's arm and pulled her closer so that she was facing both, Alex and her, at the same time. Alex didn't smile as widely as her friend did and Piper looked at Alex, feeling awkward. Alex had talked about Piper to this friend of her? That wasn't a good sign in, at least in Piper's opinion. There was no chance that Alex could've told her friend nice things about Piper because she didn't know her at all. Piper felt her heart beating in her chest.

"Yes and you can leave her alone, she doesn't need bear with any of your bad jokes today. And by the way, they're worse than any day before. You're slipping away, Nicky", Alex laughed at her and before Piper knew it she felt Alex's hand on her back. With her warm hand she slightly pushed Piper forward so that she understood to take a few steps and leave the situation. Alex left Nicky behind, rushed to walk next to Piper and took her hand away from Piper's back. Piper thought that the human contact felt actually kinda nice. Something in Alex made her want to trust her. She could put her hands anywhere she wanted to, Piper didn't care. She was kinda shocked at her own reaction because she hadn't been this open in years. It felt good, without a doubt. "Sorry about that. She's kinda crazy."

"No it's okay", Piper lied. She was overwhelmed about the situation but she didn't want to admit it. Alex saw through her and had a different look on her face than before. Piper looked at her and thought about what if Alex saw through her. She didn't waste any more time thinking about it and tried to pick a new subject for them to talk about. "Who is she, by the way?" Piper asked, feeling kind of bad about the fact that Alex had to leave her friend because of her. Deep down she knew it would be totally acceptable for her to take Alex away because they had made plans together earlier but she was used to putting everyone else's plans first. She would've accepted it if Alex had decided to hang out with her friend instead of her but Alex didn't. Piper really didn't seem to be able to stop judging and blaming herself about every tiniest thing.

"She's Nicky Nichols, my childhood friend even though she happens to be a sophomore. We have a long history together, we used to eat sand together in the sandbox and all that cool stuff, you know", Alex answered to Piper while they were walking towards the big main doors of the school. Piper laughed quietly to Alex's answer. Alex felt so confident and funny to her. Piper really liked it, she was easy to be with. Alex opened the heavy glass door in front of her to let Piper go out first.

"Thank you", Piper thanked Alex for letting her go out first. She couldn't do anything else than adore how self-confident and independent the girl next to her was. Piper felt weird about accepting this but she was proud of herself standing next to Alex. Alex seemed to be one of those girls that nothing or anything could break down and hanging out with someone like that was totally new to Piper - but it was so exciting. Those were the kind of girls she had always had to be cautious around. Even now she had her walls super high protecting her and she found herself questioning every move Alex made even though she enjoyed her company. Piper didn't know what to say so she just kept walking next to Alex while feeling how everyone stared at them. _They're probably thinking about what a loser like me does with the toughest girl of the school_ , Piper thought to herself. She didn't know where they were going, she just knew she felt anxious about not knowing and that Alex had promised her a ride to home after whatever they were doing. She didn't know what people actually did when they hung out together because she wasn't familiar with that so she had told Alex to decide. Alex had told her it was going to be a surprise. Piper hated surprises.

"You don't seem to have much friends in here", Alex said out of nowhere and right after the words escaped her mouth she realized how rude it sounded. She couldn't believe she said that without thinking about it more because she knew how Piper was. Shy. Uncomfortable. Broken. "Wow okay I'm really sorry, that sounded extremely rude. I didn't mean it to come out that way", Alex tried to take her words back quickly and when she looked at Piper, she looked even more uncomfortable than 20 seconds ago. Piper just nodded and it made the embarrassment inside Alex grow to the point where her cheeks turned light pink. While they looked at the opposite directions they both swallowed at the same time - Piper because of the anxiety that the comment woke up inside of her and Alex because of the guilt she felt about saying it before thinking about how it would sound first.

"Yeah, that's right…"

* * *

The car ride to the spot Alex wanted to take Piper to was filled with a heavy, oppressive silence. Piper stared out of the window while biting on her nails nervously. It was a bad habit of hers. Alex drove and looked at Piper many times during the drive but Piper didn't realize. Alex thought she was really beautiful and she felt bad for her because of what she said to her back at the school. She could feel how Piper didn't know how to say anything and it was mostly because Alex was so open and said things without thinking about how they could sound to Piper's ears. Even after that the silence around them didn't feel awkward, at least not to Alex. It was really comfortable being with Piper but Alex was almost sure Piper didn't feel the same way, judging by her nervous nail biting. Alex broke the crippling silence around them by turning her music player on. It was her mother's old one that she had gave to Alex as a birthday gift when she got her license. It was like Alex's most valuable gift because music was her escape. She loved to listen to music and drive, it was a break from the world and gave her a chance to clear her thoughts out. She remembered how her player was on shuffle and suddenly Taking off by The Cure started playing from Alex's usb-drive full of her favorite songs. Piper smiled a little to herself even though she was not used to listening to music like this at all. It wasn't bad at all. It was different but she quite enjoyed it. Back at Piper's home they only listened to the most famous evergreens because her mom had a serious addiction to those songs. Alex started to hum the melody of the song quietly.

* * *

 ** _Tomorrow I'll begin again with heavy head to hold it_**  
 ** _As I do it all like yesterday, yeah I'll break it out again_**  
 ** _And morning I'll be there in time for clock back move_**  
 ** _And make it for awhile to get through everyday_**

* * *

They ended up climbing to this high hill behind the apartment building Alex lived in with her mother and when they reached the top Alex looked for a perfect spot for them to sit down and talk. That's what Alex wanted to do with Piper. Talk about anything and everything to get to know her. Alex took her signature black leather jacket off and threw it carelessly on the ground for them to sit on. She sat down on it and looked at Piper who was still standing up. With a simple movement of her hand she signed for the blonde to sit down and she did. Alex pulled a small cigarette pack and a lighter out of the pocket of her jacket they were sitting on and offered one cigarette from the pack to Piper's direction.

"No thank you, I don't smoke", she said and shook her head to Alex while smiling slightly. Alex could see that the smile she put up every time she said something was just for the show. It wasn't real. She also noticed that no matter what she said to Piper she wouldn't stop thanking her.

"Have you ever even tried?" Alex asked her out of curiosity. She loved knowing random facts about people.

"No", Piper said quietly and shook her head again. She took her eyes away from Alex and looked at the view in front of her. The city lights looked really pretty from up here and Piper took the view in by adoring every little detail and taking few deep breaths. Alex shrugged her shoulders up and down while pouting her lips. She put one cigarette between her deep red lipstick lips and lit it up. She took a big breath in and let the smoke escape her parted lips.

"Oh, I see, you're a polite one. Your well-educated, highly paid parents must have taught you to behave well and have rewarded you with candy every time you did well in an exam", Alex said and laughed. She meant it as a joke and laughed a bit after it but she realized that Piper didn't even turn into her direction. Once again. There was definitely a wall between them and Alex felt bad about what she said again. She felt like she had to be extra careful with her words. Speaking to Piper was like walking on mines.

"Not exactly", Piper just mumbled unclearly. She thought about it for a while and she didn't really know how to continue the conversation. She really wanted to get to know Alex but she felt like a little kid because she had no idea how to have a normal encounter with another person even though she really wanted to. "Well, in fact, not at all", Piper stated after getting a little confidence boost out of a sudden.

"Well, tell me about it", Alex demanded Piper to open up. Piper folded her legs so that she was hugging her knees, seeking for comfort. She was really bad at telling people about herself or her life because not even her own family listened to her or were genuinely interested about what was up with her. It was totally new for her to feel like someone really wanted to know something about her. She didn't know what it was but something hit her and the black haired woman sitting next to her staring her in the eyes made her want to pour her heart out to her. As a matter of fact she didn't really trust her and she didn't exactly want to do it but she ended up ranting to her about her family. Piper told Alex about how strict her parents were, always demanding her to get the best possible grades and how they wanted Piper to get a high paid job since they never had those. Piper told Alex how her mother had some serious issues with alcohol as she used it to cope with every tiniest inconvenience thrown her way and how she always begged for Piper's father not to leave after numerous times of finding her from the kitchen floor, from the middle of the empty wine bottles. Piper told Alex about her religious upbringing she always rebelled against, to the point where her father got really mad at her and grounded her for being too provocative with her opinions. Piper told Alex about how worthless, unimportant and numb her own family made her feel by always leaving her on her own, not caring about anything she said and constantly telling her that the bullying she had been going through for years was her own fault. It was more than relieving for Piper to open up to someone and she was glad it was Alex, because the words Alex told her were so encouraging that Piper felt the need to cry. It all felt like after someone standing on your chest with their heavy feet finally lifted one of their feet a little and you could take in some fresh air after feeling like suffocating for an amount of time that felt like years.

* * *

 _ **I'll get it down for sure but**_  
 _ **Tonight I climb with you**_  
 _ **Tonight so high with you**_  
 _ **Tonight I shine with you**_  
 _ **Tonight**_

* * *

It was getting dark and cold. They hadn't even realized time had gone so quickly and when Alex pulled her phone out of her jacket's pocket it was already almost 8pm. Piper looked shocked because she remembered she had to be home at 8.

"My parents always want me home at 8 so we better get going", she explained to Alex who was looking at her direction with a confused look on her face. Piper got up from the ground and Alex followed her. Piper took Alex's leather jacket from the ground and cleaned it for her. She handed it to the girl next to her, receiving a nod with a smile as a thank you.

"After everything you told me about your parents I wouldn't want you to be late, trust me", Alex answered to her and laughed. Piper laughed back and it didn't sound as nervous as before. You could really feel how the air between them was much more lighter and clearer than when they first got here. Alex felt relieved she got to know Piper more. It allowed her to read Piper better and more easily.

* * *

The car journey to Piper's house was not quiet at all and the silence from the drive before was long gone.

"Thank you for hanging out with me. It really means much to me", Piper said when they stopped in front of her house. Alex could hear the authenticity in her voice. She was sincere and it meant a lot to Alex. She was done with people who pretended to be her friends but only used her to get forward and reach their own goals. Piper wasn't like that and it was refreshing to her.

"No problem, but Piper, do you realize how you're thanking me about literally everything? There's absolutely no need to. That's what I'm here for." Alex looked at her direction and let out a sigh, but only in a good way. She wanted Piper to feel comfortable. Piper was about to thank Alex again for her sweet words but realized it and came up with something else instead. She unlocked her seatbelt and turned to Alex's direction to see her better. Alex turned the music down and met Piper's eyes with hers.

"Okay. It's just that I'm not used to opening up to someone like that and I feel like I'm bothering you even though you've told me it's only inside my head. I really liked hanging out with you Alex, you really took my thoughts out of everything else happening in my life and I could live in the present moment for a while. I had missed it. How do you do it?"

"Maybe we have more in common than you think, kid." Alex smiled to Piper and Piper smiled back to her. She didn't flash her white line of perfectly straight teeth to her but for the first time Alex noticed that the smile on Piper's face was genuine. It was a little and a short one but it was real. Alex was surprised how well she saw through Piper even though they didn't even know each other yet. They sat in the silence for a while until Piper grabbed her school bag, opened the door and got out. She was about to close the door when Alex said something. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow", Piper answered, closed the door and walked away. It was dark but Alex followed Piper with her eyes as long as she could see her before her back vanished to the darkness and she heard their front door close. Alex started her car and put the music back on. She was amazed when she heard the shuffle play playing Taking Off again. _There must be a reason for it_ , she thought and smiled to herself. She began to hum again and drove away.

 _ **With you it's always here and never there**_  
 _ **With you it's always here and never where**_  
 _ **With you it's always here and never how**_  
 _ **With you it's always here and always now**_


	3. Labyrinth

**A/N** : Hi! I have to clarify one thing which could've been pretty confusing to you! Where I live you go to high school later than in the US, so in this story Piper and Alex are 17. The amount of typos in the previous chapter is actually super embarrassing, I noticed them when I read the chapter through again the next morning after publishing because I wrote it in the middle of the night haha. Sorrysorrysorry! Anyways, I hope you like this new chapter! If you like it, please don't forget to send your reviews, they motivate me SO much! :)

* * *

A few days passed quicker than ever in both, Alex's and Piper's lives, because after years they both had the joy of getting to know a new person who felt caring and already important on some level. They had been hanging out almost every day after school and spending much time together. Even though they saw each other every day, there were always new things to tell to each other and new features to learn about each other. They both had been going through a lot of things in their lives so they had stories to tell to each other and they realized that they weren't so different after all even though Piper was more of a externally shy girl compared to Alex's independence and toughness. Even though Alex had told Piper things about herself, Piper felt like there was a depth in Alex that she hadn't been able to reach. She was getting better at reading Alex and she knew she wasn't telling her everything but if Piper had learned one thing in life it was that things like that weren't going to come out of the person quicker if they were forced to. Piper knew that Alex needed time to tell her everything and she was willing to wait for her but she was exploding of the curiosity to know. She wanted to know everything about Alex.

* * *

 _ **Say it's the same sun spinning in the same sky**_  
 _ **Say it's the same starts streaming in the same night**_  
 _ **Tell me it's the same world whirling through the same space**_

* * *

Alex had survived two classes at school and she felt like her head was going to explode if she couldn't smoke a cigarette right now. Right after her class ended she walked out of the school to smoke behind the building and saw Nicky there, leaning against the wall and holding a cigarette in her right hand. She greeted the curly haired girl with a smile on her face when she was closer and lit a cigarette with help from Nicky since she leaned her left hand holding a lighter in it forward to Alex.

"Heading for a lunch next?" Nicky asked when Alex's cigarette caught the fire and she leaned against the wall again to smoke hers. Alex nodded.

They were sitting in the cafeteria with their lunch trays in front of them. Nicky was eating her plate full of lunch just like on every other day too, but Alex had never really cared too much about the food at school so she thought this school probably wouldn't be an exception. She didn't touch the food. It reminded her of the dishes her grandmother used to prepare back in the days when Alex was still a little girl dressed in pink skirts by her mother. Oh, how the times had changed since then.

"Can I sit with you?" a familiar voice wafted from behind Alex and she turned around quickly. She saw Piper standing there holding a tray and her bag with her hands. It looked like she was about to drop one of them any second now so Alex moved to sit next to Nicky and made some space for Piper to sit down next to her. Piper put her tray down to the table in front of her and at the same time her bag fell to the floor. Alex gave a little laugh and helped Piper, who was also laughing, by lifting it up from the floor for her. Piper sat down next to Alex and she put the bag between them.

"Have the bitches been teasing you anymore?" Nicky asked Piper just when she was about to lift her fork to taste the food the school offered today.

"It's surprising but no. They've been exceptionally quiet, maybe they're up to something", Piper said and Nicky grinned.

"So Vause's bold magic trick actually worked? Wow!" Nicky said and followed Piper with her eyes. Piper finally tasted the food. She was picky when it came to food so when she tasted the acrid flavor of the vegetables in her mouth she felt her body shivering. "Ew!" she let out a sound out of pure disgust and swallowed the food quickly.

"Was it that bad?" Alex laughed at Piper's funny face and looked at her trying to get the taste out of her mouth by drinking an insane amount of water and swallowing it down many times.

"Yes, I'm sorry but I don't think I've ever tasted vegetables spiced like that."

"It's alright, I agree with you, kid", Alex answered to her while looking at her. When Piper calmed down with the water drinking and pushed her tray away from her, Alex smiled at her.

"Wanna hang out again today?" Piper asked Alex after leaning on her elbows she put on the table. She wished Alex could hang out because she was so used to spending time with Alex and she had really enjoyed it. Deep down she still felt like she was somehow annoying Alex but she thought that Alex would tell her if that was the case. Nicky looked at Alex, raising her eyebrows questioningly when she noticed that she could do that because Piper wasn't looking at her and wouldn't suspect anything afterwards. Nicky loved teasing Alex about everything and it wasn't difficult to notice.

"I'm sorry Piper but I have something to do today after school", Alex said and Piper felt a little sting in her heart. She didn't want to accept the fact that she would have to spend time alone after school and wait for the boredom to run over her like a truck. Piper looked away for a while and when she met Alex's eyes with hers again Alex could see the disappointment. She tried to fix the situation. "That doesn't mean I have no time for you at all. Is it okay if I pick you up at 7 and we can do something you like?"

"I'd have to be home by 8", Piper said, pretending that this whole thing didn't annoy her even though it did.

"Shit", a quiet curse word escaped Alex's mouth and Piper could hear from the tone of Alex's voice that she was upset too. Piper didn't know why she acted that way towards a tiny thing but maybe it was just because during only these few days she got used to spending time with someone. It was a big deal for her to get to be away from home because everything at home reminded her of what a failure she was. And Alex didn't make her feel that way - at all. Piper found such a relief from hanging out with her that of course it felt bad that she wasn't able to today.

"I don't care, Alex. I'll come with you", Piper says after a deadly silence filled with deep thinking. She found more pros than cons from this and decided to go with her heart. Alex raised her eyebrows and looked happy. Nicky smiled at both of them after Piper's words. _Uh oh, this won't end well_ , Nichols thought and got up with her tray, winking her eye to Alex, leaving her and Piper alone together.

* * *

The time was exactly 7 when Alex stopped her car in front of Piper's house. She saw Piper getting out of the house, closing the door behind her and running to the car. She had light blue ripped boyfriend jeans on, matched with black Vans Old Skool shoes and a white basic t-shirt. She was carrying a black studded leather jacket on her arms and her hair were curled, but not too much. It looked like it was curly the day before and now it was more of a wavy look but in fact she had curled it only for this evening. Alex thought that Piper had obviously had too much time on her hands after school before this because she had put on such an effort. Piper opened the car door in front of her and jumped in. She threw her jacket on the backseat of Alex's car just like they were best friends. That was true, at least on some level. Piper had never had a friend like this and from the moment they first hang out together and things started to really flow after the stiffness and language barrier in the beginning, it had been a blast for both of them. Alex felt the same way.

"So, where we're heading to?" Alex asked like she was Piper's personal driver for the evening. Piper let out a laughter and after that she held her stomach.

"I'm starving cause I didn't eat anything after school. Should we go and grab something to eat?"

"You're lucky, I know an amazing burger place on the other side of the city", Alex said and started to drive. Piper looked out of the window and she was relieved when she saw her home disappear from the view. It was raining a bit and it was already dark, but Piper didn't care. She knew she was safe when she was with Alex.

"They arrived to the old burger restaurant and after Alex parked her car they got out of it and went inside the building. There were neon signs and lights all around and inside the building the decorations reminded Alex of 60's pin up style which she really liked. It was really aesthetically pleasing to her eyes and that's why she had always enjoyed going there. Piper liked it too. The restaurant had been in that same building for years because Alex remembered going there with her mother when she was younger. Piper asked Alex's advice for what to eat and she recommended her favorite meal to Piper. They both ordered the same meal and when they got their meals, they came to a decision on where to sit. They walked to the last possible table at the restaurant and sat down to the opposite sides of the table. While they ate, they talked about everything and shared more secrets to each other.

"I don't mean this in a mean way but you know a lot about me so do you want to tell me something about yourself?" Piper asked Alex and took a sip of the strawberry milkshake she had ordered with her meal. Alex knew Piper didn't mean only some random, superficial things about her that didn't really even matter. She knew Piper meant things that had moved her somehow, things that kept her up at night and things that made her the person she is nowadays.

"Well, my mother Diane used to be a drug addict but luckily she got through it and has been sober for years now. I can't imagine life without her. I don't even know what I would do without her. I was her reason to even try to stay sober and I'm really grateful for her, every single day. She's taught me a lot about life and living in general and we have such a good relationship with her. We're like best friends", Alex explained to Piper and she could sense that every word that came out of Alex's mouth was true and came straight from her heart. "Or well, I might have a new best friend sitting opposite to me right now but my mom remains as the close second one". Piper smiled widely and looked down shyly. She felt so happy hearing that from Alex's mouth. _A best friend_. Alex kept looking at her and smiling.

"What about your dad?" Piper saw how Alex's smile faded away and she looked serious again. She had obviously hit the weak spot and she was ready to accept the fact that Alex wouldn't open up about it, but when Alex thought about it she realized how much Piper had told her private things about her family and that she would have nothing left to lose if she told Piper. Piper wouldn't tell anyone because she didn't even know anyone to tell to. Not that Alex would have to be scared of her telling to someone. It still surprised Piper big time when Alex opened her mouth and began telling her about her dad.

"My dad's name is Lee and he's the drummer of Death Maiden. I'm pretty sure you haven't heard of the band because they're not that famous and you don't really listen to that kind of music or at least that's the vibe I'm getting from you. But yeah, he has never really been part of my life. I met him once and he just told me he could've accidentally fucked me if he didn't knew I was his daughter… so that's that. He has never cared. I've never had a father figure in my life but I haven't been feeling like I needed one because I never had one." Alex swallowed audibly and it didn't take her long to look at Piper again. Piper was amazed how Alex was capable of talking about a thing like that without shedding a tear or even looking like it would be a problem for her.

"Alex, I'm so sorry… If it makes you feel any better I really adore the strength you have in you. You're so strong and I wish you continue to be that way too", Piper said to Alex after hearing those things about her life. Piper was getting noticeably teary eyed because of Alex's stories even though Alex herself didn't even flinch.

"All the things that have made me struggle as much as I have are the ones who have made me this strong, so it's okay. Thank you so much, kid."

* * *

 _ **But the sun is cold - the sky is wrong**_  
 _ **The stars are black - the night is gone**_  
 _ **The world is still - the space is stopped**_  
 _ **The time is out - the day is dropped**_

* * *

Before Alex brought Piper home she told Piper even more about the things she had been going through and time went by quickly without them even realizing, once again. Piper was glad Alex opened up to her and it made her feel like she really mattered to Alex. The trust between them was definitely growing but something in Piper didn't let her jump in completely - maybe it was the fact that she had been living the same way for years and new ways to do things didn't fit in her life perfectly right away. She needed time to adjust to them. When Piper came home she tried to be as quiet as possible when making her way to her room. She didn't want her parents to realize she was gone for hours and came home so late. She jumped into her bed with her clothes on and pulled the blanket over herself, feeling actually kinda good before falling asleep.

* * *

 _ **Tell me it's the same time tripping through the same day**_  
 _ **So say it's the same house and nothing in the house has changed**_  
 _ **Yeah say it's the same room and nothing in the room is strange**_

* * *

"Piper darling, where were you last night?" Piper's mother Carol asked when Piper came downstairs from her room in the morning before heading to school. Piper didn't think anyone was home so she was kinda surprised until she realized that her mother had tried to hide a couple of wine bottles behind the fruit basket. It didn't work very well because Piper noticed them right away and to tease her mother a bit, she took an apple from the fruit basket to eat on her way to school and looked at the bottles. She looked at her mother with a captious look on her face and answered nothing to her. Carol didn't deserve it. She grabbed her bag from the floor next to her shoes and put her shoes on. Piper could've told her mother she was out stealing liquor last night and her mother wouldn't remember it an hour later because she was drunk again. As soon as Piper stepped out of the house she put her headphones on and turned her music on louder. She started to walk to school while listening to Labyrinth by The Cure. She had fallen in love with the band after Alex had played their music in her car when they hung out for the first time. It was something new for Piper, something she wasn't used to. Just like hanging out with Alex was.

* * *

When Piper arrived to school she found Alex with Nicky and Lorna from the corridor outside their classroom. Piper was about to have her first class together with Alex and she was really excited about it because sitting alone was getting boring after all even though you had your own privacy and extra time with a friend wouldn't be a bad thing either. Piper greeted all of them with a smile on her face and then saw Nicky and Lorna leaving for a class together because it was almost the time that the classes would begin at. While they were walking away Nicky grabbed Lorna's ass playfully and they kissed quickly. Nicky moved her hand from Lorna's ass to take her hand and they walked away hand in hand until Piper and Alex couldn't see them anymore. Piper turned into Alex's direction and looked surprised.

"Are they a thing?" she asked, sounding extremely happy for them.

"I think even they don't know if they are together but if I can count on Nicky's latest update last night then yes, they are together", Alex laughed and Piper did the same. They started to walk to the classroom while talking about how much they both hated chemistry, which happened to be the class they were going to attend together right now. They sat down next to each other but their teacher told all the students to pull their desks apart. Piper looked at Alex with a shocked expression. What was this all about?

"I hope you all remembered the start test today and studied for it. It's going to determine whether you can stay in this class or have to go and do the basic chemistry courses for beginners first. This one is intermediate and if you don't pass the test you can walk out of the classroom right away. You won't understand a thing here if you struggle with this one", the teacher explained to the students and the good schoolgirl woke up inside of Piper, causing her to freak out a bit. She tugged the sleeve of Alex's jacket and Alex turned into her direction, laughing.

"Alex… I don't know anything. I didn't know about this! I mean, I… I knew but I didn't remember!"

"Don't worry Piper. You won't die, it's just one test and I'll meet you on the beginner course, bestie", Alex tried to calm Piper down and turned away when the teacher told them to sit down so he could give the test papers to them. Alex smiled to Piper one last time before starting the test and Alex calling Pipe her bestie echoed in Piper's head. At the same time she felt the anxiety inside her grow properly for the first time in a couple of days and she could already see how disappointed she would be in herself. She wished her parents wouldn't get to know about this. It was only one test as Alex said but right now it felt like the end of the world to Piper. And the situation was just like she had guessed - she knew nothing and understood nothing when she looked down at the paper the teacher gave her. When the teacher sat on his chair again in the front of the class and concentrated on something else, Piper raised her look a little and could see how Alex took her phone out of her pocket and went on Google to search for answers. She was cheating? Piper wrinkled her eyebrows in confusion and thought about what the hell Alex was doing. She looked at the teacher and then again at Alex, hoping she wouldn't get caught. Then it hit her. If Alex passed the test she would stay on this course and Piper would have to leave for the beginner one and be alone because she didn't cheat and pass. Piper didn't know what to do and fought with her thoughts for a minute before giving in. She made sure that the teacher was still concentrating on something else on his computer and took her phone out. She hadn't done this before and was indescribable afraid. She didn't recognize herself, this wasn't the old Piper who was doing this. She continued doing it anyways. She had to pass because of Alex and this was the only way how.

 _ **This isn't how it's always been**_  
 _ **Everything has to have changed…**_  
 _ **Or it's me…**_


	4. Trust

**A/N** : Thanks for the support you've shown to me, I'm so happy you've liked the story. I'm sorry if the first chapters have been boring, I can promise you that more things will start to happen very soon! I hope you like this new chapter :)

* * *

 _ **There's no one left in the world**_  
 _ **That I can hold onto**_

In such a short period of time Piper had noticed very vivid changes in herself after hanging out with Alex. Going from being bullied harshly for years and having no friends to having Alex in her life was something she could have never imagined to happen to her when she was stressing out about starting high school a while ago. Something about Alex radiated strength to her way too and the completely different personality that Alex was compared to Piper and seeing how independent Alex was in everything made Piper want to be more like her. She really admired Alex and every time they hung out together Piper felt her confidence grow a tiny bit. Alex had made her do things she would never do, for example cheating in the test they had. In fact it wasn't that much of a positive thing, but at least Piper outdid herself and they both managed to do it without getting caught. Even though Piper getting more confident was a good thing, she was doubting it by herself. She felt unknown to this new Piper because she was so used to stumbling in her problems and lack of self-confidence. It was complicated for her, because her trust in Alex and Alex's trust in her were growing hand in hand too. She felt like Alex was just what she had needed in her life even though she didn't know she would. Sometimes she found herself thinking Alex was the only one she could count on and it was scary to her because she didn't know how to trust people.

When Piper came home from school she faced her mother sitting on the sofa, looking angry and fed up. She had placed her fingers on the side of her forehead and she looked like her head was aching big time. It wasn't a big surprise after getting drunk the first thing in the morning. Piper kicked her shoes off and put her bag on the floor. When she was about to take the first step on the stairs close to the door she just came in from, she saw her dad, Bill, walking out of the kitchen and taking a seat next to Carol. He signed for Piper to come closer and she did. She walked to them and sat in the dark brown armchair opposite to the sofa that was the same color. Her parents stared at her for a long time without saying a word and Piper's thoughts had all the available time in the world to run around in her head to make her think of the worst. She was confused and her parents looked like something was clearly wrong in the Chapman kingdom. In reality they were waiting for Piper to open the conversation. They expected Piper to know what this was about. _What if grandma is dead?_ Piper thought and she couldn't stay quiet about it when her parents still didn't say a thing and looked so serious.

"Did Celeste die?" she asked, sounding shocked and looking like she was about to start crying. Her dad shook his head and still just stared at his daughter for a while that felt like it lasted for hours. Piper let out a sigh out of relief. "What is this all about then, dad?"

"Do you think your recent behavior is acceptable?" Bill asked Piper, refusing to take his eyes away from his daughter. He was disappointed and it was the main point Piper could figure out from the tone of his deep voice. She could feel the cold sweat slowly pushing through her porcelain skin and the atmosphere in the living room became even heavier very quickly. Her cheeks were turning red even though she knew she hadn't done anything bad that would make her parents this mad. Oh well, she thought her parents got to know about her cheating in the test - maybe she hadn't passed after all and got caught. Piper tried to say something but all that came out was unclear mumbling her parents couldn't figure words out from.

"I… I haven't… done anything bad", she could say and her dad corrected his position on the sofa to look tougher and to make Piper feel more scared. She could feel her hands trembling. "Mom, dad, what have I done?" she asked, being super confused about the whole situation but still feeling the fear inside of her grow.

"Who is that girl you're hanging out with? She certainly has a bad influence on you. You didn't even say good morning to your mother today! That's not the way we've taught you to behave, Piper Elizabeth Chapman! You have to respect your parents!" Bill was shouting so loud that his face turned red out of anger. It's like he had built all this frustration inside of him for days, trying to keep it inside and was now letting it all out at once. Piper was truly scared of his dad's behavior and she just stared at him in a shock. It was all so unexpected.

"It's none of your business who I hang out with and she's definitely not bad influence on me. She cares about me more than you've ever done. I didn't say good morning to mom because she was drunk once again! I'm so done with everything, let me live my life!" Piper screamed and the tears started to stream from her blue eyes like heavy waterfalls. She would never be able to even try to figure out why her parents treated her like garbage. When she cried and looked at her parents, there were no emotions on their faces. They didn't care. This wasn't a huge thing but this one little thing added to everything else that had happened before with them was just too much for Piper. Without hesitating she got up from the chair she was sitting in and grabbed her bag.

"Piper, this isn't over yet!" her mom shouted to Piper when she was already well on her way to her bedroom. When she got there she locked the door and jumped into her bed, burying her head to her pillows while crying hard. The pillows muted the sound of her crying and she tried to think about who she could call. She didn't have anyone but Alex. She felt like she was bothering her but she didn't have any other options and she really needed someone. She felt like if she had to be alone she would lose it. It'd be so easy to give up. Piper took her phone out of the pocket of her ripped jeans and found Alex's name from her contacts.

* * *

 _ **There is really no-one left at all**_  
 _ **There is only you**_

* * *

Alex was sitting on the couch with her mother Diane and Nicky in the apartment she lived in with her mother. They had been talking about everything possible for like an hour. Positive and negative things, it didn't really matter as long as it were Diane and Nicky talking with her. They were like three best friends and so used to spending time together that Diane being part of the group didn't even feel weird in any way. And after all Diane had known Nicky's mother since forever and that's why she knew Nicky too. She really felt like Nicky was her own daughter because of the amount of time they had spent together and the number of problems she had helped Nicky with. When Nicky's mother died a couple of years ago Diane had allowed Nicky to move into their apartment for a while and helped her to get back on her feet until Nicky saw everything clearly again. Alex was really proud of her mother, she loved her to the moon and back. When Diane was telling a story from her high school times, Alex's phone started to ring. It had slid under Alex while they were talking so she got up, got her phone and left her mother and Nicky talking. She went to another room, closed the door behind her and saw it was Piper who was calling. She had set a photo for Piper's contact in her phone - one that she had took of Piper when they were at the burger place. She saw the photo next to Piper's name because she was the one calling. Alex smiled a little when she saw Piper sipping her milkshake so that her adorable dimples were showing. _She's so beautiful_ , Alex thought before answering to the call.

"Hey Pipes", she answered to the phone and waited for Piper to greet her back, especially now after creating a new cute nickname for her. Alex couldn't lie and say she wasn't surprised when she heard sobbing from the other side of the phone. She recognized it was indeed Piper who was crying.

"I'm sorry for calling, Alex. I just really need help", Piper answered quietly to the phone and turned to lay on her other side. She was looking out of the window and could hear the worry in Alex's low voice.

"Is everything okay?" Alex asked. She was truly worried. Hearing Piper crying like that broke her heart because she was supposed to make sure that Piper wasn't hurting and right now she felt like she was hurting.

"To be honest no. Can you hang out?" Piper asked, feeling a bit bad about it. She didn't know what Alex was up to and if she had interrupted something she was doing but she wouldn't have asked if she really didn't need it. She felt really bad generally and just wanted to see Alex's face. She knew it would make her feel better and not so alone. Alex didn't have to think about Piper's question twice before accepting. At the end of the day, there hadn't been a single time she wouldn't have enjoyed Piper's company and she really wanted to know what was up with her. She wanted to take care of her.

"Of course, I'll be there in 15."

* * *

Alex drove to Piper's house and when she came to the driveway in front of the house she saw her dad walking out of the house right away. They hadn't met before but Alex assumed it was her dad. She didn't know if she should get up from the car or not. Piper had sounded sad so Alex was sure that she was coming quickly so she decided to stay in the car. It didn't take long for Bill to come banging on Alex's window when she was looking away. Alex winced because she didn't notice him coming closer at first and when he did he really scared her with the loud bang sound. After everything she had heard of Piper's parents, she was afraid of them if she was really honest. She didn't want to get up from the car. _Thank god_ , Alex repeated in her head when she saw Piper running out of the door towards the car. Her mother got out of the house right after her. Piper ran to her dad and at the same time Alex got out of the car.

"Who is this?" Bill asked, looking at Piper but pointing his index finger at Alex. Alex felt really uncomfortable in the presence of Piper's dad because of the things Piper had told her and how he was acting right now. Alex was strong but somehow Bill really made her stand on her toes and be cautious about every move he made. He wasn't good news, at least in Alex's opinion. She was about to introduce herself but Piper was quicker than her to open her mouth.

"She's Alex Vause, my new best friend." Alex listened how Piper introduced her to her dad and her heart melted when she heard the best friend part. She was really glad she had Piper. She offered her hand to shake Bill's but he didn't move, even for an inch. He just looked at her overall and saw how she had several visible tattoos because she had a t-shirt on. Bill didn't understand the meaning of tattoos and everyone who had them was automatically a criminal to him. He looked at Piper with a strict look on his face and then at Alex again. Alex felt how he was judging her so bad with every blink of an eye and when he finally turned away Alex was so relieved she could cry. She took a huge breath in. Something about him really bothered her but she didn't know exactly what it was.

"I won't accept this. Hanging out with people like her is not something you'd do, Piper", Bill said and even though he could see from Piper's face how hurt she was, he couldn't care less.

"You have no right to say that, dad! She makes me realize my worth better than you've ever done. You make me feel like crap, don't you get it? She makes me happy, she makes me want to live my life and that's something you haven't been able to do in years! She spends time with me, can you imagine?" Piper screamed at her dad and her mother in the background walked away and went inside because she couldn't stand the fight anymore. Piper didn't care what her mother thought and at this exact moment she truly hated her parents more than ever. Who were they to restrict who she was hanging out with? Piper knew what Alex meant to her and that was the most important thing. That was the thing she needed to hold on to. Piper walked next to Alex and Alex put her hand on Piper's shoulder to show to her that she's on her side.

"You", Bill said and looked at Alex with an extremely angry look on his face, "you better stay the hell away from my daughter!" Alex thought about opening her mouth for a while because she knew that if she did it, she would sound super rude and make Piper's dad hate her even more and burst out of pure anger. Alex knew she had to protect Piper so after a little silent moment she let it all come out. She tried her best to keep her cool because screaming at Bill's face would only turn everything even worse from what it was.

"You better not talk to me like that. I'm not someone who will let you treat your daughter, my best friend, like that. She deserves all the respect, support and love in the world and judging from the things she has told me you've been everything but supportive towards her. You can't treat her like crap, she's broken. She's in pieces, she needs help and you're not capable of helping her so I will."

"That's bullshit, you know it yourself! Do you really think you know my daughter better than I do?" Bill shouted louder than ever and took Piper's hand. He furiously pulled her away from Alex's side and started to walk towards the door, dragging Piper with him. Piper tried to get away from his grip but he was too strong. Alex could get a glimpse of Piper's face. She was crying again and Alex felt super bad seeing her like that and being unable to do anything. Bill turned into Alex's direction for the last time after forcing Piper to go inside. "Stay away or I'll have to show you how to!"

* * *

Alex didn't know what to do. She saw Bill taking Piper inside and slammed the door before she could say anything. Alex knew she had to come up with something because she couldn't leave Piper alone. Not right now. She remembered how hopeless Piper sounded on the phone when she asked her to hang out in the first place and that was something that made Alex realize that she had to make a plan to get Piper out of the house as soon as possible. Piper's eyes didn't deserve to shed any more tears, they only deserved to squint out of happiness. Alex wanted to be sure of that so she decided to drive her car away just so it would look like she left. She did and left her car away and when she didn't see Piper's parents sitting in the living room through the window anymore, she was brave enough to run through the yard to get to the other side of the house. She didn't know which one of the rooms was Piper's bedroom but she took a risk for her because there was no other way she could get to the upper floor than by using the emergency stairs. Alex climbed up and when she was at the height where the window was, she quietly and carefully looked in. She saw white wallpapers, a make-up table, a closet and a mirror on the opposite wall from her and she figured out that it was Piper's room. There was no way it could've been someone else's room and she decided to gently knock on the corner of the window. She tried to be as quiet as possible and as a result of that she almost lost her hope when no one moved inside of the room. She decided to knock a bit louder and when she did, Piper got up from her bed under the window and looked out. She realized it was Alex and she opened the window quickly but still as quietly as possible because she obviously didn't want her parents to notice.

"Alex", she said, sounding happy compared to what she sounded like when she was fighting with her dad, "how did you… get…?" she could ask before Alex grabbed her hand and interrupted her.

"I don't wanna get caught doing this since your dad is batshit crazy so let's just go", Alex said quickly to Piper and offered a hand to her to help her out of the window.

"Al, I can't do it, it's way too high", Piper said and looked like she was about to freak out. She looked Alex in the eyes and at the moment when her blue eyes and Alex's green eyes met each other Piper felt safe. She felt like she could do anything. She felt like it was nothing, not a big deal. Something in Alex's eyes made her calm down and make the decision to take her hand. She intertwined her fingers with Alex's and held her soft hand tight while Alex helped her out of the window without falling down. Alex didn't say anything, she just remained quiet and thought about how well Piper's hand fit in hers. It was like her hand was meant to hold Piper's - just like she was meant to protect Piper.

* * *

 _ **There is really no-one left**_  
 _ **You are the only one**_

* * *

They managed to get away and when they reached Alex's car, they got inside and Alex started it. She looked at Piper and Piper flashed a little smile to her. Alex loved seeing her smiling but she recognized that Piper's smile wasn't an authentic one so it obviously wasn't as lovely as seeing her real, wide smile. It was so easy for Alex to see through her.

"Is everything okay?" she asked before driving away. She could see that Piper wasn't totally fine because as soon as she flashed the smile to her she turned her head away and her concentration escaped from the window to the outside world and disappeared. She just stared out of the window and minded her own business until she woke up from her thoughts to Alex calling her name out loud for numerous times.

"Huh?" Piper asked quickly and turned back to Alex's direction. She felt embarrassed for not noticing Alex trying to talk to her.

"I just asked if everything's okay?" Alex repeated her question and Piper nodded without saying anything. Alex could see that everything was definitely not okay because Piper was awfully quiet and distant, but she also knew that pressuring her wouldn't make the situation any better so she drove away. She decided to give Piper space but it didn't take Piper more than three minutes to lose it. All of a sudden she couldn't hold it all inside of her anymore. She felt so anxious, so unsafe and so wrong. She couldn't clear her thoughts out to herself and sorting them was getting more and more difficult by minute. She bursted out in tears and it wasn't just quiet weeping, it was loud and it was so messy. When she started to cry Alex got scared of it and immediately pulled over to be there for her. Piper just cried out loud, not being able to say a word. At first Alex didn't know what to say or do, she just looked at Piper who was sobbing uncontrollably and wrinkled her eyebrows in both, confusion and despair. She was helpless. Piper buried her face into her hands and bent her back so that she cried against her knees on the passenger seat next to Alex. She didn't expect Alex to do anything but when she felt Alex's hand on her back after pulling over for her, her crying stopped until it continued the same way it had started. "What's wrong, Piper?" Alex tried to ask her but she didn't answer. She didn't react to Alex's words, she just continued crying and Alex moved her hand up and down on her back, trying to calm her down by doing that. Piper didn't seem to calm down though so Alex moved her hand to her arm, stroking it softly. Piper started to mumble quietly.

"This is not me, Alex. I am not like this. I don't know who I am", Piper tried to explain but it didn't really make any sense to Alex because she didn't know what she meant. Alex didn't need to know though, she just needed to be there for Piper. She needed Piper to know that she was there and ready to listen whenever she needed her. Then she would eventually open up more to her. Piper slowly raised her head from her hands that were now wet from the tears she had shed against them. Alex saw her swollen eyes, so full of pain and confusion. She knew that this was about something more than just the incident with her parents earlier but could sense that Piper wasn't ready to talk. She didn't trust Alex enough. She knew she liked to be with Alex and she enjoyed sharing stories with her but the amount of time they had spent together was not enough to build a strong trust between them - at least not for Piper. She wiped her tears away even though it was useless because she started to cry more again. Alex couldn't watch it anymore because she felt so bad for Piper. She unfastened her seatbelt and in just a few seconds she had her arms around Piper. She felt how fragile Piper was when she closed Piper to the warmth of her arms and felt her breath against her shirt. Her whole body was shaking because of the crying and Alex tried to hold her as tight as she could, just like it could put Piper's broken pieces back together. Piper's loud cries stopped when Alex held her tight and Piper found it weird how easily Alex made her calm down. They had never been this close to each other and in that exact moment Piper found herself thinking about how good it felt to be on Alex's arms. She felt safe and so hopeful, like she belonged there. Alex stroked Piper's upper arm and shoulder with her hand while breathing in the scent of her strawberry shampoo as a result of being so close to her. Piper snuggled closer to Alex's chest, searching for protection.

"Shh… it's okay, Pipes", Piper could hear Alex whispering softly into her ear. Alex calming her down did its job surprisingly fast and Piper didn't want to leave the safety of her arms. She wished she could stay there forever. Alex gulped when she realized what holding Piper on her arms meant to her. She was ready to sacrifice everything for Piper's happiness and it was a strange feeling she had never felt before. She had felt like that from the moment she first saw Piper and stood up for her. There was something special in Piper that really spoke to Alex on a whole another level, but she was patient and could wait to find out what it was. She just wished Piper realized that she was not going to hurt her, but vice versa, protect her from anyone trying to hurt her. Piper didn't know what it was that was stopping her from trusting Alex completely but while having Alex's arms around her protecting her Piper realized that she was the last person on the earth that was capable of hurting her. She felt like her own parents were way more capable of that than Alex. If only she learned to put her trust in Alex completely.

 _ **And still the hardest part for you**_  
 _ **To put your trust in me**_  
 _ **I love you more than I can say**_  
 _ **Why won't you just believe?**_


	5. Secrets

Piper didn't know what was happening around her. All she knew was that she had just cried on Alex's arms embarrassingly a short while ago, Alex had been there for her better than anyone in ages and now they were driving somewhere in the darkness. She didn't really even care. She felt like nothing was going the way she wanted to but it wasn't shocking to her because she was used to that. Alex was really concentrated on driving and while she drove carefully in the dark, Piper was looking out of the window, trying to keep up with the quickly changing views with her eyes. Everything she saw while looking out of the foggy window was unfamiliar to her. She didn't recognize the buildings or the streets they were driving through and she didn't think she had ever even been on that side of the city they lived in because that was the side of the city that her parents had always told her not to go to. They told that the people living there were on a whole another level compared to their family and not in a good way. They always bashed them and everything about them, starting from their low levels of education and broken families. Piper had never understood how it made her parents feel better about themselves when they pushed other people down. Those were things they had always tried to instill to young Piper's mind but none of it really worked. Something about this side of the town had still scared Piper before, most likely because she had never seen it for herself, but now that she was sitting in the car with Alex next to her, all the fear was suddenly gone just like someone had snapped their fingers and Piper couldn't stop thinking how glad she was that she wasn't home. Normally she was scared and really easily anxious in new situations like this but this time around she loved the feeling of something totally unknown coming to life. She felt weird about this whole new chapter in her life and was confused about what she was really doing, but at the same time also so relieved that she didn't have to be home. She was not confident with the way things were going but when her mind told her not to go on, her heart told her to go on.

"Where are we going?" a quiet question escaped from between of Piper's chapped lips. She looked at Alex who was so concentrated on driving and yet looked so beautiful without even trying. She was jealous of Alex's looks. She truly adored her features. Her strong jawline, her beautifully shaped green eyes and the way her smile lit her whole face up when she smiled. She was beautiful but Piper admired the inner beauty of Alex even more. She was so caring, so strong and so encouraging. Normally Piper would be intimidated by people like Alex, but she felt so proud of being her friend and sitting next to her. It felt really good and what made Piper feel even better was the fact that Alex's confidence was slowly but surely conquering Piper too. Piper's eyes were stuck on Alex and she admired everything she was. When Alex answered to Piper she woke up from her thoughts, not realizing she had been staring at Alex for a good while.

"To my place, if it's okay to you of course. You can stay overnight, I think it wouldn't be the wisest decision to go home right now." Piper nodded because she totally agreed with what Alex just said. It was exactly how she felt too. She didn't want to go home, not at all, and she was so glad that Alex understood her even though she didn't say it out loud. Crying on her arms earlier had shown Alex enough of what the blonde one was feeling inside and it made Alex realize that Piper was scared and wanted to escape her home. Alex couldn't even imagine herself in Piper's shoes. If her mother was like that she would've escaped ages ago and she would be far, far away from home.

* * *

 _ **I catch your eyes in the dark**_  
 _ **One look relives the memories**_  
 _ **Remember me the way I used to be**_

* * *

Piper's safe place far away from home was not as far as Alex's would've been. When they arrived to Alex's home Alex could sense the nervousness and anxiety that was radiating from Piper. Still Piper somehow felt safer in here than at home, even though she hadn't even seen the apartment yet. Piper didn't know what to expect. All she saw around her in the darkness was the ashy grey walls of the stairwell and the smell of burning cigarettes reached her nose quickly after stepping inside of the whole building. If she was still the old Piper and completely believed her mother and her stories she would be freaking out right now and ready to sprint home because of the neighborhood being suspicious and mysterious in a negative way. But she wasn't that Piper anymore. She was nervous indeed but it was just because she was nervous to see where Alex lived and if her mother was home too. After what Alex had told her about her mother Piper wasn't scared at all about meeting her. She seemed really sweet and the relationship between Alex and her mother was so endearing that Piper could've cried when Alex opened up about it to her. Piper just wasn't good at making friends and meeting new people. She wanted to make a good first impression on Alex's mother and that's why she was so nervous. Before Alex opened the door with the little silver key between her fingers she looked at Piper to make sure she was okay and not going to pass out.

"You alright, kid?"

"Mmh, I'm just super nervous", Piper mumbled quietly and flashed a little smile to the black haired beauty next to her. Their eyes met for the last time before Alex opened the door. While she was opening it slowly with her right hand, she bowed down a little so she could whisper into Piper's ear.

"It's okay, you have nothing to worry about", she whispered close to Piper's ear and Piper felt shivers going down her spine. Alex's voice was so soft and so soothing. Suddenly Piper found herself walking into Alex's apartment. She carefully followed Alex's every move with her eyes because she didn't know what was acceptable and how the Vauses did their things. The last thing she wanted to be was rude and disrespecting in their home. Alex took her shoes off so Piper did the same. Alex took Piper's hand in hers and softly caressed the back of her hand with her thumb to show her that she's there for her and there's no need to worry. Even though it was supposed to make Piper calm down it made her heart race even faster, she didn't know why. While trying to make Piper's fluster disappear Alex pulled her closer to herself and walked towards the living room. They found Alex's mother sitting on the sofa, but didn't see Nicky anywhere anymore.

"Hi mom!" Alex said happily to her mom that hadn't even noticed that Alex came home. "Did Nicky leave?"

"Alex!" her mother answered in the same happy tone as her daughter had spoke to her and even from that single word Piper could sense what a kind and warm person she was. Piper had always wanted a close relationship with her own mother and seeing Alex's mother being that way brought memories of her bad childhood to her mind. "Yes she left, had to go home", Alex's mother answered to Alex's question and almost jumped up from the sofa out of the joy she was feeling. When she saw Alex better, she noticed that there was someone standing behind her too. "Who is this?" she asked and pointed at Piper. Alex let go of Piper's hand and her mother walked closer to Piper.

"She's P-", Alex could say before her mother took Piper's hand in her own and Piper started to speak.

"I'm Piper, Alex's classmate", she introduced herself to Alex's mother and smiled her signature smile that was so beautiful that it made Alex smile too. She somehow felt this insane wave of pride inside of her looking at Piper meeting her mother.

"Oh shut up Pipes", Alex said and laughed a little. She looked at her mom when she looked at her daughter with a confused look on her face. "She's my best friend mom." Piper laughed at Alex's direction, then facing her mother again. They all looked incredibly happy.

"That's amazing, I'm so happy you've found a new friend. She's so pretty!" Alex's mother looked truly happy for her daughter. "I'm Diane by the way", she introduced herself to Piper and then all of a sudden put her arms around Piper. Piper couldn't process it at first because even her own mother had not hugged her in ages. Hugging Diane felt really good though. After exchanging only these few words with her she knew something about this woman made her feel extremely safe - just like her daughter. Piper couldn't care less about what her mother said about the neighborhood and how she should never go there. She started to realize how the people from the places her mother told her not to go to were so much more kind and caring than the ones she used to grow up in the middle of. Piper felt so welcomed and loved right at that moment and that was the only thing she cared about.

* * *

Piper and Alex had talked with Diane for several hours and they really enjoyed each other's company. Piper especially. She felt like Alex and Diane understood her right away before she could even finish her sentences. Something about them was something that Piper had been looking forward to having for her whole life. It all felt so natural, to all of them. After they had talked for those hours that felt like only minutes, Alex said good night to her mother and she didn't need to even ask if Piper could stay overnight. Diane had got to know about Piper's situation a while earlier and she felt so bad for Piper. Diane had went to her bedroom and pretty much right after that Alex and Piper went to Alex's bedroom too. Piper obviously didn't have any clothes to sleep in with her so Alex borrowed her some night shorts and a huge white t-shirt. They were sitting on Alex's bed, still talking even though time had ran quickly and it was almost 11pm.

"Wow, I never knew you liked The Cure this much", Piper said, stressing the word 'this'. She was looking around herself and saw the posters of the band and their lyrics on Alex's walls. Alex giggled like a little girl.

"Yeah, I kind of grew up listening to their music a lot. I also love their lyrics." Piper loved seeing the light in Alex's eyes when she talked about the things that she loved. She knew how much their music and art meant to Alex by just looking at her eyes and seeing them light up like that in only seconds. After that a little silence filled the room up to the ceiling, until Piper's eyes stopped wandering around the walls of the room and ended up staring at Alex's. She started to feel awkward just staring at Alex so she smiled and tried to come up with something to say.

"Al, your mom is so nice", she said and kept the big smile on her face. Alex loved seeing it and she could recognize that it was a real one this time. She found herself smiling inside every time Piper smiled and it made her realize how much Piper meant to her, even though they hadn't known each other for a long time at all. Alex noticed Piper playing with the bottom of her shirt, twiddling it around her fingers, letting it go and doing the same all over again for numerous times. She was still clearly nervous as hell.

"I told you, she's the best", Alex said and could see how the gorgeous smile on Piper's face faded pretty quickly. She was looking down and Alex put her finger under her defined chin and lifted it up. "Chin up beautiful. What's going on in your mind, enlighten me?"

"It's nothing", Piper lied but she should've known that Alex knew right away that she was lying. Alex could see from Piper's face in seconds that everything wasn't okay and when she looked at Alex she saw her making that oh-cmon-tell-me-face of hers. "Okay, I just… I'm so sorry. Look, Alex, I'm really glad you have a mother like that and you have no idea how lovely it is to see how she cares about you and you about her but I just can't stop thinking about how I wish I had the same in my life. I hate my mom. I really do, Al. And it's not just me talking cause I'm mad - it's always been that way. She really doesn't care and let's not even mention my dad. No one cares." Piper put her hands in front of her face when she felt how the tears were pushing their way out from the corners of her eyes. She didn't want to cry again, especially in front of Alex because she already felt like she was such a burden to Alex and she had her own worries too. She didn't want to bother her any more and felt shitty for even opening her mouth. It would've been impossible for her to hide how bad she really was feeling inside in front of Alex because she saw through her immediately. Alex put her hands on Piper's shoulders and rubbed them a little to show Piper that she was truly there for her.

"Piper, I care. Please don't shut me off. I haven't been through the same thing but I can imagine how you feel and I'm the one who should be sorry, not you. You have all the rights in the world to talk about how you feel and I'm really glad I can be the one listening", Alex tried to comfort Piper but when she moved her hands to Piper's hands and tried to make the blonde one show her face again, Piper didn't move her hands at all. Alex really wanted to see her eyes. She bit her lip. "Pipes, there's absolutely no need to hide your beautiful face. Please." Piper thought about Alex's heartwarming words for a while and took her hands off from her face. She revealed her teary eyes to Alex and Alex pulled the blanket under her bum up. She turned it and threw it over herself and moved to lay down on the bed. She patted the space next to her on the mattress between herself and the wall and lifted the blanket. "Come here", she said to Piper. Piper moved next to Alex without hesitating even for a moment. She wasn't facing Alex but she could feel how Alex tucked her in and made sure the blanket was comfortably around her. She put her arms around Piper and it felt like home. Everything was wrong in Piper's world but it didn't matter at that exact moment, or at least that's what Piper thought.

* * *

 _ **Secrets, share with another girl**_  
 _ **Taking all night in a room**_  
 _ **All night, everything's slowing down**_  
 _ **I wish I was yours**_

* * *

When they had woken up, done all the things they normally did in the mornings and were making their way to the school, Piper noticed something that made her freak out. She was about to check the timetable for the school day on her phone but noticed that her mother had tried to call her for over 10 times and there were some calls from her dad too. She looked out of the window, feeling frustrated and so disappointed in herself, too.

"Shit!" she said to herself quietly but Alex heard it because they didn't have the music on in the car so it was quiet.

"What's up?" Alex asked, quickly looking at Piper before concentrating fully on the traffic again.

"My parents have tried to call for like almost 20 times. I'm dead Alex. Ugh, why am I so dumb?" Piper blamed herself and Alex tried to calm her down, without success. "I'm so fucking dumb…" Piper whispered and put her phone down. She bit her nail nervously, trying to think of a way to get out of this. Alex was thinking about the same thing while driving.

"You have no time to call them right now so could you try to text them that you're at school and that you'll meet them after school?" Alex quickly tried to come up with the best solution but she wasn't sure if this was actually the best possible solution because instead of that it seemed way more like the quickest solution to come to her mind.

"Yeah, I think I'll do that", Piper said and texted her mom. She put her phone to her bag, trying to get the whole thing out of her mind.

"Do you wanna hang out after that? We could do something relaxing. I mean I don't know if it's exactly relaxing but I'm really craving the milkshake from the burger place we went to the other day so we could go there again if you want to?" Alex asked with a smile on her face and her suggestion made Piper smile too. It would be a good way to escape this shit for a while. Piper really liked all the things Alex came up with to take her thoughts away from the reality. They didn't even have to be huge and special things - little things like spending a couple of hours with her in the evening only talking were easily enough too.

"To be honest, that sounds super good. Is it okay if I call you when I'm done with my parents? I don't want to spend any excess time there, I'll just apologize for being a horrible daughter once again and get the fuck out", Piper laughed and Alex joined her.

"Now that's the Piper I know", Alex laughed out loud and parked her car next to their school.

* * *

After school Piper did as she had promised her parents to do - she went home. She didn't want it to happen and she definitely wasn't looking forward to it but she still had decided to do it. She just wanted to get this over with and go to the burger place with Alex. Piper had never been this nervous of coming back home. She was seriously shaking when she was standing on the doorstep, waiting for her parents to open the door for her after her ringing the doorbell. She waited for a while, biting her nails again, before her parents came to open the door. They let her in but they didn't smile to her, they didn't say anything to her and they just expected Piper to talk as usually. _The same old story_ , Piper thought and followed her parents to the living room. She knew they had to talk through things because they couldn't go on like this and that's why she didn't even try to get away. She put her bag on the floor and looked at her parents. She knew they were waiting for her to open her mouth and speak but when she was just about to, her parents did it instead. Piper was amazed that they wanted to talk first after all. Her dad raised his voice tremendously and without any emotions on his wrinkly face, that looked even more grumpy than usually, he spat it out.

"Piper, you're grounded." Piper felt the disappointment and anger inside of her grow to insane amounts after hearing those words from her dad's mouth. She wanted to punch him and do all the acts the hate towards her parents inside of her was telling her to do, but she was so shocked that she couldn't do anything. Not even blink. She just sat on the sofa and the next thing she knew was that her parents took her phone away from her. She couldn't do anything else than hold back the tears and think about Alex.

 _ **Strangers, nobody knows we love**_


	6. Watching Me Fall

**A/N: I'm sorry it took me a while to update. This chapter is a bit shorter because this one and the next one were supposed to be a whole chapter together but it would've been too long so I split them into two separate ones. That's why the lyrics don't match that well in this chapter either, sorry. I hope you like the story so far anyways!**

* * *

 ** _Yeah the room is small, the room is bright_**  
 ** _Her hair is black, the bed is white_**  
 ** _And the night is always young_**

Alex sat on her bed and waited. She waited for hours on end and when Piper still hadn't called and she hadn't heard anything about her she started to get a bit concerned. There were no signs that Piper wouldn't have wanted to hang out with her later and she didn't say anything about cancelling their plans. If anything, she was excited. Alex took her phone out of her pocket but before she made any hasty decisions she thought about the whole situation again and tried to find the possible explanations for Piper not calling her. Alex knew Piper and she knew her so well that she was sure Piper was the kind of person who wouldn't leave her hanging like this. Some other people maybe yes, but when it came to Alex, no. Not a chance. Piper must've been in the middle of doing something else and that made Alex thought she could wait for a bit more. Her patience ran out just a few seconds later and she realized she couldn't wait anymore. _Fuck it_ , she thought and before she knew it she was calling Piper. She didn't answer. During the time span of 10 minutes she called Piper six times but she didn't pick up and it started to scare Alex who was never really scared of anything. She felt the worry inside of her grow so much that she knew nothing else would ease the unpleasant pulsating feeling than driving to Piper's house and finding out what was going on. Piper always answered to her phone and this was so not her style.

* * *

 _ **Yeah the room is small, the room is bright**_  
 _ **Her eyes are black, the bed is white**_  
 _ **And the night is always young**_

* * *

Piper had sat on her bed thinking about Alex for hours too, not knowing Alex had done the exact same thing on the other side of the city. She thought that Alex could've been a bit worried but not too much. She thought Alex probably had made some other plans after realizing she left her hanging. Piper felt bad about it and wanted nothing else than to explain to her but there was no way she would be able to and she was sure this was going to affect their friendship in a significant way. She blamed herself and couldn't make her thoughts running around in her head stop until she heard someone pull over in front of their house. Of course she thought that it could be Alex. What if she had came to look for her? What if she really cared that much? Piper knew that she wouldn't hear or see anything well from her own room so she ran to the toilet which was on the opposite side of the upstairs. She climbed on top of the toilet seat so she could see outside from the little window above it and follow what was going on. She saw a familiar tall, black haired woman who got up from her car, slowly approaching Piper's dad who was standing in the middle of the yard, refusing to step any closer to the woman. She was wearing tight black jeans, a deep red t-shirt and a leather jacket. She looked good. Really good. And Piper was right, it was Alex indeed. Piper's eyes got glued to her beauty and she wished from the bottom of her heart that Alex would do the same thing as last time - get her out of here. Piper didn't care if she would get in trouble for running away again and spending time with Alex. She knew she needed it and she knew she wanted it.

* * *

Alex was nervous when she got up from the car. She saw Piper's dad standing few meters away from her like an old statue. He looked like nothing could bring him down and he exuded confidence - but not in a good way. The look on his face was rather scary to Alex and Alex would be lying if she said she didn't think about turning back and going home. But after all she wanted to do this for Piper so she did. She walked to Piper's dad and before she could even open her mouth she felt how Piper's dad slapped her on her cheek. She felt her pulse in her cheek and the whole right cheek turned red.

"Wh-?" Alex began to ask but she couldn't finish before she saw Piper's dad's hand near to her face again. She backed away by taking few steps back, trying to protect herself from him while concentrating on not falling on her back. She looked at him while pressing her palm against her cheek that was already feeling swollen because of the slap. She didn't know what to say and even as someone who was never scared of anyone Alex admitted to herself that this man was someone not to play stupid with. Somehow she still managed to pick herself up and speak out. _For Piper_. "What was that for?"

"For not leaving my daughter alone. How many times do I have to tell you you're bad influence? I don't want to see your ugly face close to Piper ever again. That was just a little taste of what you're gonna face if I find out you've been trying to befriend her again. Let this be the last time, you dumb bitch", Bill foamed. Alex could see the fury on his face and the anger bursting out of him as a smoke from his ears. Somehow she didn't let it bother her anymore. She wasn't scared of him anymore and she actually wanted to see what he was capable of after those big words of his. She was so done with this man, she didn't have anything to say to him. She took her hand away from her face, turned around and started to walk towards her car. Before she got in she turned one last time to look at Bill who had a smug smile on his face because he really thought he got rid of Alex that easily. Oh, if he only knew. Alex smirked at him.

"Let's see about that", she said and got into her car. _What a massive jerk_ , she thought and drove away.

* * *

Piper didn't have even the slightest chance of hearing what happened outside but from the body language between the two of them she could sense that everything was definitely not okay. Especially after his dad slapped Alex. When Piper saw it her insides filled with rage and anger quicker than ever. She was so close to running downstairs to slap her dad but she knew it'd only cause huge problems so she tried to remain calm and follow the situation from upstairs. She did, until she noticed Alex getting in the car and driving away. Piper could feel her heartbeat getting faster and faster when she saw Alex driving away. Her heartbeat continued to rise until she saw Alex's car disappear from her sight. That's when she fell apart. Piper jumped down from the toilet seat and sat down on the floor. It didn't take long from the heavy tears to fill her big bambi eyes and start running down on her porcelain cheeks like they were having a rice. She wiped them away every once in a while but it took way too little time until she wasn't able to see well anymore because of new tears that formed. She buried her face into her hands and started to cry even harder when she thought about the fact that she had expected for Alex to get her out of here and she just drove away. Piper couldn't stop thinking. What if Alex freaked out when her dad slapped her? What if her dad said something really rude to Alex and she felt the need to leave? What if her dad threatened Alex and she felt hurt and wanted to leave? What if she wanted nothing to do with Piper anymore? Piper's head was filled with a huge amount of negative questions and assumptions and they clearly didn't leave her alone. Piper got up from the cold bathroom floor, ran back to her room, jumped into her bed and pulled the covers over herself. She had no idea how she got into this condition and how she could help herself out of this. She felt so lost without Alex and it was scary to her because they hadn't known each other for too long but Alex had become so important to her that she didn't know how to handle all these things without her. And on top of all it was the weekend and she had no phone. The fact that she couldn't inform Alex in any way about all of this and at the same time the fact that she was so unaware of what had happened on the front yard was making her freak out even more. She had no idea how to handle her thoughts and she ended up crying even more. Alex was so important to her. Piper felt worthless, helpless and hurt by her own actions when she even thought about how she let Alex down. _It's all my fault, I'm such a bad person. Why am I like this? I just hurt everyone I care about, I'm a horrible person and I don't deserve to be cared about. I don't. I won't._ She just couldn't stop overthinking and it was killing her inside surprisingly fast. Piper had her own ways to cope with it.

* * *

 _ **I've been watching me fall for it seems like years**_  
 _ **Watching me grow small, I watch me disappear**_  
 _ **Slipping out of my ordinary world, out my ordinary eyes**_  
 _ **Yeah slipping out the ordinary me into someone else's life**_

* * *

Alex knew she had to make it look like she drove far away from Piper's dad's reach but she didn't actually drive far away at all. She turned right from a couple of traffic lights she faced and then parked her car to the parking lot of the supermarket that was closest to Piper's house. Alex had to breathe in and out for a couple of minutes in her car, resting her head on the steering wheel, before she could completely take in everything that had just happened. She was hurt by Piper's dad's actions but in all honesty she was only dead worried about Piper. She knew exactly how impulsive Piper could be when she was feeling down because they had talked about it and all she wanted to do was to get her out of that hellhole but she knew that the way she managed to do it last time obviously wasn't the best way to do it. She needed to come up with a better plan and that's when she got the greatest idea in ages. She lifted her phone up from the center console of the car and called Nicky.

"Vause!" Nicky answered to the phone pretty quickly with her usual raspy voice. She was slightly out of breath but still continued to speak without any bigger struggles. "Now is not the best possible timing Vause, you know…" Alex rolled her eyes and thought about all the possible scenarios in her head but quickly enough came to the realization that there was only one that could really be happening right now.

"You dirty piece of shit, I need your help", Alex answered to her, quietly laughing at the same time. She leaned her head against the window of the car and followed the people on the parking lot with her eyes while waiting for Nicky to answer her.

"As I said it's not the best possible…"

"I need your help right now", Alex said, stressing the right now part, before Nicky could finish her sentence. Nicky could sense from the firm tone in Alex's voice that she really needed help and wasn't kidding.

"Okay… but only because you're my best friend", she answered and Alex shrugged her shoulders quickly. "Tell me." Alex told Nicky everything that was going on and told about the idea to her. Nicky quickly agreed on it and told Alex it was a good one. It didn't take long for Nicky to agree on helping Alex, but she wanted her lovely sidekick to be involved too.

"I'm in but only if Lorna is welcomed too."

"Shit…" Alex mumbled. "Okay, see you in 15."

* * *

 _ **And the neon bright tokyo lights flicker through the crowd**_  
 _ **I've been drifting around for hours and I'm lost and I'm tired**_  
 _ **When a whisper in my ear insatiable breathes**_  
 _ **"Why don't you follow me inside?"**_

* * *

Alex drove to Nicky's place to pick Lorna and her up. When she had them with her, they went close to Piper's home together but not so close that Piper's dad would see and recognize Alex's car. Alex was sure that he would definitely recognize it right away if he saw it because he was the type of person who would memorize all those unnecessary little details to use them against someone later on. Alex preferred to play it safe this time and she parked a few blocks away from Piper's home.

"You ready?" Alex asked Nicky and she nodded. Alex looked at her and she couldn't help but laugh a little. Nicky looked so different than usually. Normally she was wearing same kind of dark clothes that Alex was but now she was dressed in a floral dress and her hair was up in a tight bun that every little ballerina had. Lorna saw Alex laughing at Nicky and she did too.

"I won't do this if you laugh at me, idiots."

"Okay okay, just go", Lorna said and slapped Nicky's ass playfully while she was trying to crawl her way out of the car.

"Are you sure she's drunk?" Nicky asked, looking at Alex with a bit of worry showing on her face that was normally so confident.

"I'd bet my life on it", Alex said and nodded at Nicky as a sign for her to just go. She started walking towards Piper's house while Alex and Lorna were following her with their eyes to make sure everything was going to be alright. It was dark and a Friday evening after all. Who knows what kind of people there would be running around on the streets.

* * *

When Nicky reached the house that matched the description that Alex had carefully gave her, she walked to the front door and rang the doorbell. She was extremely nervous because first of all, it was dark so she wasn't sure if the house was the right one and secondly, what if the outcome of this wouldn't be what they were aiming for? What if Carol wasn't drunk after all and caught them? Nicky was staring at the door with her eyes big as plates. She was freaking out. Suddenly the door opened and Nicky was more than relieved when she saw an older blonde woman, who looked exactly like the woman Alex had described to her. Nicky felt disgusted to even begin talking with her, knowing Piper's rough upbringing and how they had treated her over the years.

"Hey, umm… I'm Piper's school friend Nicole. Piper was supposed to come to our place for a sleepover tonight but she hasn't called me. Can she still come?" Nicky asked, trying to make her voice sound as sweet and soft as possible. She looked so innocent with a cute childish-like smile on her face and her clothes made her look even more like a family girl. Piper's mother's eyes were pretty much sparkling when she heard Nicky's words and she smiled widely. Nicky smiled back at her, picking her nails' cuticles behind her back nervously. A strong smell of alcohol reached Nicky's nose. Yup, Carol was definitely drunk, no need to worry about that.

"It's amazing to hear that Piper has a normal friend like you. She's been hanging out with this Alex girl who is such a bad influence on her. I need my own little Piper back…" Carol complained almost teary-eyed. Nicky was having a hard time trying not to laugh at what Carol had just said. She thought about what had made Piper's mother think that Alex is bad influence on her and while doing that she still just smiled at Carol and looked as angelic as she was just able to.

"I haven't heard anything bad of Alex, she's really nice", Nicky said and thought about how Alex would have to pay her back someday because of that. "But what about Piper now?"

"Oh, yes darling, I'll go and get her! I hope you girls have a nice sleepover!" Carol said and disappeared. It didn't take long for Piper to come downstairs and see Nicky. Her mother didn't come to the door again because she stayed upstairs and when she saw Nicky she looked really confused.

"Nicky, what are you doing here?" she asked with her eyebrows wrinkled.

"Hey blondie, we must go", Nicky answered to her and grabbed her hand. Piper didn't have a jacket or anything and she was actually feeling a little bit cold, even when she was inside the house. She didn't have time to grab her jacket though because Nicky closed the door behind them and pulled Piper with her.

"Where are we going?" Piper asked, looking very scared and confused. When Nicky didn't answer to her, she raised her voice and started to wriggle her arm out of Nicky's hold. "Nicky, what is this? I don't like this. Let go of my arm!"

* * *

 **A/N: I hope you liked this chapter! Don't forget to review! And also tell me, do you prefer shorter or longer chapters :) Thanks!**


	7. At Night

**A/N** : Hi! One of you asked for a double update since I had written this chapter already so here we go, you get the new chapter earlier than I was thinking about publishing it! I hope you like this new chapter! :)

* * *

 _ **Sunk deep in the night**_  
 _ **I sink in the night**_  
 _ **Standing alone underneath the sky**_  
 _ **I feel the chill of ice on my face**_

The atmosphere in the car was rather tense when Alex and Lorna were impatiently waiting for Nicky to come back to the car with Piper. They knew that if someone was able to get Piper out of the house by pranking her drunk mother like that, it was Nicky. She was excellent in situations like that and those situations made her personality really shine through - that's why they chose Nicky to do it in the first place. Alex was nervously moving her foot from side to side, knocking it against the black door of the car. It low-key annoyed Lorna but she thought it was rightful for Alex to do it since the situation made her nervous. It was understandable from her point of view. It was dark and it had been a while so she was slowly losing hope. It had took so long that all the possible negative thoughts from Nicky not being able to find the right house or Piper's dad opening the door for her were running around in Alex's head. She was biting her lower lip and wasn't able to say anything because she was so anxious that this whole plan wouldn't work. Lorna coughed and it made Alex wake up from her thoughts and quickly correct her poor position on the car seat. She ran her hand through her hair and looked at Lorna.

"What if she didn't succeed?" Alex asked and continued biting her lip. It was something that she did when she was nervous, sometimes even to the point that she could slightly taste blood inside her mouth. She was nervous as hell right at that moment. She tried to focus on everything else but she didn't manage to do that. She was worried about Piper because she still hadn't heard anything about her and the fact that her dad slapped her today made her think what he was really capable of when it came to his own daughter he knew. Alex wanted to get Piper far away from that house and those people and do her absolute everything so that she wouldn't have to go back ever again.

"I'm sure she did, after all it's Nicky we're talking about", Lorna answered to Alex with a soft voice, trying to make Alex feel better by being sweet to her. Being negative about it would make Alex freak out and it would be the worst possible scenario right now. Lorna could see how stressed Alex was about the whole situation and she understood it because she knew she'd be the exact same way if this was about her and Nicky. She tried to think about what to say to try to make Alex feel even a little bit better. It was light inside the car for a few seconds when Lorna pressed the home button of her phone to check the time. At the same time when the light of the screen went off and the darkness conquered the car again she realized they had waited for 10 minutes now. They should be here any minute now. "It's hasn't been that long yet", Lorna said quietly and continued to search for Nicky with her eyes. The darkness wasn't helping though. Alex took a big, deep breath in and breathed out, trying to keep calm. "Look, there they are!" Nicky was dragging Piper along with her and Piper looked just like Alex had thought her to look like; like she didn't want to come, like she was questioning the whole thing and like she wanted to stay home even though it made her feel indescribably bad.

"Finally!" Alex could get the word out of her mouth but it sounded really unclear because she literally jumped out of the car at the same time. Lorna got up after her and smiled to Nicky, walking straight to her and watching Piper and Alex with her. The facial expression that was built on Piper's face when she realized Nicky brought her to Alex was priceless. Lorna and Nicky laughed at her and Alex couldn't stop smiling when she ran towards Piper and put her arms around the blonde who was shorter than her. She closed Piper into her embrace and they stayed that way for a while until Piper took her arms away from around Alex and looked at her with her teary eyes. She wasn't about to cry because of this, even though it could've been possible, but she had been crying since Alex left and her eyes were swollen and ready to explode with tears at any moment.

"Why did you… How…" Piper didn't know what to say because once again she was feeling tons of different emotions inside of her tiny head at the same time. She was so happy to see Alex and her friends but at the same time she knew this was not going to end well because she had learned it the hard way from the last time Alex helped her to run away. Piper knew her parents were unfair but she also knew that she was raised to respect them. She needed to do what they wanted her to do but she also needed to get away from that toxic environment they had created their home to be filled with. She wasn't sure what she had the permission to feel but she knew one thing and it was that being with Alex right now was the most important thing because she felt like the black haired woman was the only one who could make this all worth it.

"Shh… it's okay Piper, you're here and that's what matters." Alex hugged her again quickly, but Piper didn't want to let go of the taller woman because the warmth that Alex's body radiated towards her made her feel so warm too. Slowly they made her way to the car and Nicky let Piper take the front seat and went to the back with Lorna.

"You did such a great job! Thank you!" Alex said to Nicky and they all laughed together. Piper loved being with these people and was so grateful that she was able to call them her friends.

"It's all thanks to Piper's amazing mother", Nicky said sarcastically and laughed even more. Piper looked guilty but eventually she could laugh about it too without thinking about it too much. "We have to celebrate Piper's furlough!" Nicky said loudly and Lorna nodded determinately. She didn't know what the plan was but she knew she was in because it was Nicky's idea. She would follow Nicky to the moon if that was the case. Alex looked at them and that was the moment when her telepathic connection with Nicky was proved once again. They knew from the look on each other's faces what they'd do next. Piper didn't know what was going on but she went on with them.

* * *

When they were actually doing it and putting the crazy idea into use Piper started to regret every life decision she had ever made. They were walking through a grocery store together with Nicky and Lorna. Alex stayed in her car because she had to be ready to start driving right away when they came back to the car. Nicky and Lorna needed extra hands in the store so Piper had joined them after Alex had persuaded and pep talked her for good five minutes and succeeded in trying to make her do it. Now they were walking through the store and Alex was sweating in the car on her own. Normally doing this wouldn't be this scary because she had done this numerous times before but now it was different because of a specific blonde girl. She cared about Piper and saw how freaked out she was about doing this. She didn't want anything to happen to Piper and that's why she was doubting all of this but it was too late to back down now. Piper followed Nicky and Lorna carefully to the liquor shelf of the store and when there were no people around them and no cameras, they all put two random bottles that they could first reach with their hands to their bags and ran out of the store as quickly as they put the bottles in their bags in the first place. The cashier didn't even notice them sprinting out of the store before they were out of it already. That's why this store was the best one to steal from. The cashier knew it was impossible to make them pay for what they had done after he saw the girls getting in the car and the car driving away fast. The security cameras being turned off didn't help either. When they were safely in the car and driving away from the store Piper looked like she had just seen a ghost when she sat on the front seat of the car with her bag on her lap.

"Shit! I'm never going to do that again", she said and heard how the other three girls just laughed. She didn't think it was funny at all and her heart was beating in her throat. When Alex saw a glimpse of Piper's serious face in the dark she stopped laughing. Nicky and Lorna continued but it was expected because they were living their own life on the backseat.

"You don't have to do it again. But you survived, Pipes", Alex sounded proud of her when she said that and then looked at Piper again quickly to see if she was okay. She didn't look as shocked anymore and her heart rate was definitely back to normal again.

"True", Piper said to Alex and smiled a bit. If there was one person on earth that could make her feel this good about something her parents were strictly against, like stealing something from a store, it was Alex Vause.

* * *

 _ **At night I hear the darkness breathe**_  
 _ **I sense the quiet despair**_  
 _ **Listen to the silence at night**_  
 _ **Someone has to be there**_  
 _ **Someone must be there**_

* * *

After driving for 15 minutes they arrived to their destination. Piper recognized the place immediately. It was a familiar hill and when she realized that she felt a warm wave of happiness go through her body. The place took her right back to the moment when she first got to know little random details of Alex and they were sitting here together. That was the first time they had hung out together but Piper had known from that moment on that Alex was going to mean much to her someday.

"This is amazing, I love this place", Piper said out loud while thinking about the memories from the hill when they were walking up the few stairs that were made out of stones. She loved this place, it made her feel so good about life because it made her forget everything shitty about it. The worries and negative things in life didn't exist up there. When they reached the top of the hill and she saw the city lights below them she was as speechless as she was the first time they were there.

"I know, it's so beautiful", Lorna answered to Piper and walked closer to her. They both were admiring the view next to each other while Alex and Nicky were standing behind them, talking about their own things so that the two women in front of them didn't hear them.

"You like her", Nicky said to Alex and had a huge smirk on her face. She winked her eye to Alex.

"What? No I don't!" Alex answered to her friend who had the weirdest grin spread on her face. Alex wrinkled her eyebrows and looked at Nicky. "I mean yes, of course I like her but only as a friend."

"Vause, I saw the look on your face when I rescued your princess from the villains and brought her back to you. Don't try to lie to me, I know you." Nicky walked away, leaving Alex hanging. She tried to think of something to shout back to her to make her shut up but decided to stay quiet because there was always a chance that Piper could hear and ask what they were fighting about because she was known to be the curious type. "C'mon, now let's celebrate the blondie getting out of hell", Nicky shouted when she walked next to Lorna. She pulled one of the bottles out of the fabric bag that was hanging on her right shoulder and then sat down. Lorna sat down next to her but Piper walked to Alex with a smile on her face. She sat down and heard how Nicky and Lorna started to talk a few meters away from them, like the two lovebirds they were. Piper looked at them with a smile on her face. They were so cute together. Alex sat down next to Piper, breathing in the fresh air around her.

"Everything okay? You seem like you're deep in your thoughts", Piper said to Alex when they were sitting next to each other. Alex nodded to answer that she was alright and took a bottle out of the bag that Piper was holding on her lap. She opened it and took a little sip. She didn't like the taste of the liquid so she handed the bottle to Piper. Alex wasn't really in the mood to drink right now but she didn't want to ruin her friends' night so she decided to just enjoy their company sober. Piper took a sip that was definitely bigger than Alex's. And another one followed. And again. She felt like the alcohol would help her to get rid of her negative thoughts and to concentrate on something else just for tonight. She was holding the bottle in her hands and staring at the view in front of them when she started mumbling something to herself. It got louder until it was clear enough for Alex to hear it too and figure out what Piper was saying.

"I don't wanna go home."

"Then don't", Alex blurted out and looked at Piper with a light smile curving on her lips.

"What?" Piper asked with a confused look on her face, turning into Alex's direction.

"Stay at our place", Alex suggested and Piper stared at her with her mouth wide open.

"Are you being serious right now, Al?" she asked. She kind of felt bad for Alex having to put up with her again and in the back of her mind she had actually accepted the possibility of going back home after this evening. She had just wanted to get out of the toxic atmosphere for a while but now it fortunately looked like everything was going to change though.

"Yes", Alex whispered to Piper and still just smiled at her.

"Okay", the blonde one answered and that was it. They were quiet for a while and that thing was settled. Piper was excited about going to Alex's place and Alex was excited about Piper coming to her place. They loved spending time together so what could have been better? Piper took a few sips out of the bottle again and Alex noticed how she was surprisingly quickly running out of the liquid in the bottle and reaching the bottom of it. Piper tried her best to grab another one from her bag. "I'm cold", she said and threw the empty bottle away.

"Com'ere, kid", Alex said and took her big scarf off. She pulled Piper closer to herself so that Piper's head was on her chest. She wrapped the black scarf around the both of them and let Piper rest her head. Alex couldn't resist on stroking Piper's hair that was glistening in the darkness thanks to the city lights below them that hit it perfectly. Nicky looked at Alex and Piper who were sitting behind her and Lorna and when she saw Piper's head on Alex's chest she smiled at Alex. She knew. The amount of hours they spent sitting on the hill actually felt like days and it didn't bother any of them.

* * *

 _ **I feel the chill of ice on my face**_  
 _ **I watch the hours go by**_  
 _ **The hours go by**_

* * *

When they finally got to Alex's apartment after driving Nicky and Lorna to Nicky's place, Piper was clearly seemingly drunk. She had a weak head when it came to alcohol because she didn't drink much at all and wasn't used to getting drunk like this. The alcohol really went to her head fast and it wasn't necessarily a good thing. When Alex parked her car, she had to help Piper get out of the car.

"I caaan walk on myyy own, merci beaucoup", Piper mumbled to Alex who was holding her arm behind Piper's back to make sure she wasn't going to fall down. Alex giggled at Piper trying to talk to her in French - in the language of love.

"Oh oui mon ami, I believe you can but that's not going to happen", Alex said and kept her arm exactly where it was even though Piper was trying to get out of her grip. They walked slowly but surely in to the building where Alex lived in and got into the elevator. Piper leaned against the mirror in it and struggled to keep her eyes open. She tried to look at Alex but Alex just bursted out to laughter because she couldn't keep it in anymore when she saw Piper failing.

"Whaat?" Piper asked, tilting from side to side, even while standing and leaning against the elevator's wall. _Aww, poor thing_ , Alex thought to herself.

"Nothing, nothing", she said quietly because she knew it didn't really matter - her answer wouldn't reach Piper's brain anyways. When the elevator stopped moving, Alex helped Piper to get out of it and to walk to her apartment's door without falling down. While Alex dug her keys out of her bag Piper leaned on her again even though she could've leaned on the wall too. Leaning on Alex and being close to her was apparently her favorite thing to do today. Alex opened the wooden door with the silver keys between her fingers and after they got into the apartment she helped Piper to get into the bed. Piper was wearing a white t-shirt and blue jeans so it was easy for her to just get rid of the jeans and get into the bed. Alex changed into her huge The Cure band t-shirt quickly because she knew Piper was drunk enough not to even notice she changed her clothes and then jumped into the bed with her. It didn't take long from Piper to seek closer to Alex when they were lying in the bed together and in a blink of an eye Alex found Piper cuddling her tightly. She put her arms around the blonde girl who had her head on her chest, again. It was her favorite position to be in, she felt so comfortable.

"Alex… I feel sooo safe right here", she said and tapped Alex's chest with her hand for a few times. Alex smiled in the darkness of her room after hearing Piper's words. The way Piper's arms were around her and hers were around Piper was like it was meant to be. Alex knew Piper was drunk enough not to remember anything that she had said in the morning, but drunk words were sober thoughts, right? Alex admired Piper who was right next to her, snuggled up as close to her as it was physically possible. She felt Piper's presence so strongly around her and the way Piper was in such a vulnerable state made Alex realize again how much this girl really meant to her. She would be totally lost without her but in the back of her mind she knew that Piper would be even more lost without her. She stroked Piper's back with her hand and thought about how she wanted to fight for her. To protect her. Alex knew how weak and alone Piper had been before she met her and now it was the most important thing in the world for her to take Piper's worries away. She wanted to protect her because that's what she deserved. "I'm nooot safe at home, I need a… safe place."

"This can be your safe place if you want to, Pipes", Alex whispered quietly and wondered what Piper meant by saying she wasn't safe at home. She knew Piper wouldn't remember what she said to her tomorrow but she needed to say it out loud. She needed Piper to know that she was safe with her and no one was going to hurt her here.

"I feel so safe here in your home, in your arms", Piper said and fell asleep.

 _ **You sleep**_  
 _ **Sleep in a safe bed**_  
 _ **Curled and protected**_  
 _ **Protected from sight**_  
 _ **Under a safe roof**_

* * *

 **A/N:** Someone also asked where does Nicky live and the answer is that she lives on her own but obviously spends a lot of time with Lorna. I hope that clears it up a bit. Also, if you ever have any questions let me know. This is my first time publishing a fic like this and I've been only writing for my own entertainment before so it's totally possible that some details in the story don't make sense or are unclear to the reader cause normally I don't have anyone reading what I've written haha. Thank you for all the love and support you've showed to me and this fic, it all really means much to me! :)


	8. Never

**A/N:** Thank you for the reviews and everything, I really appreciate them :) This episode is a bit on the longer side but I'm going to warn you already that nothing too dramatic will happen. I was in the mood to write something a bit more light to cheer myself up so that's what happened! I really enjoyed writing this one. I hope you don't mind the lack of drama & still enjoy this chapter.

* * *

 _ **I want so much to need her I never turn away**_  
 _ **I want so much to need her all night and every day**_

It was Sunday. The little rays of sunshine that radiated from the gaps in between Alex's room's curtains hit Piper's porcelain face in the morning. The light wasn't too bright but it still managed to hit Piper's face so that it woke her up from her dreams. Maybe her eyes were a bit tense after last night, too. Slowly but surely she opened her eyes that literally felt like they were masoned shut. After managing to open them she looked around her and moved a few centimeters to get away from the strain of light that reflected from the window and annoyed her eyes. She found herself waking up from the exact same position she fell asleep in last night and it made her feel rather weird. She had her head softly pressed on Alex's chest that was slightly moving up and down in a perfect rhythm due to her breathing while she was still in a deep sleep. Piper's blonde hair was curled all over Alex's shirt because obviously she hadn't been able to put it up in a ponytail last night like she usually did before going to sleep. Her arms were around Alex and that had caused the bottom of Alex's shirt to lift a bit. Piper felt weird laying like this with Alex because judging from the constant pulsation on her temples and creeping ache in the back of her head she had been drunk last night and now she barely remembered that she ended up in here. In the soft morning sun Piper could see Alex's toned stomach that the shirt screamed to point out. She could feel Alex's stronger arms around her body and it felt so safe to her that she never wanted to leave. She kept looking at Alex, her gaze wondering from her stomach to her face. While Alex slept Piper adored every little detail in her that her eyes just met with. Alex's skin was so smooth, it was like the the softest velvet possible and smelled like marzipan; that scent was truly Piper's favorite and it made her feel like home. Alex's nose's bridge was cute, her lips looked particularly tempting and her eyelashes were perfectly curled so that they looked even longer than they actually were. Piper felt like the time stopped and it was only her in the world, adoring every bit of Alex. She brought her fingers to Alex's chin, about to run them along her defined jawline that was close to her face but when she softly touched Alex's skin she moved rapidly. Piper pulled her hand back and ran her fingers through her hair so that it looked like that was what she was about to do instead.

"Good morning", she said with her morning voice that was deeper and raspier than her normal one. She looked at Alex who slightly leaned on her arms to help herself get up after opening her eyes. She pulled herself up a bit so that she was half laying, half sitting. With her little movement she forced Piper to raise her head from her chest. Piper got up and sat, leaning her back against the grey bedroom wall behind her. She could've held her head on Alex's chest for hours more.

"Well, good morning stranger", Alex chuckled and finally looked at Piper for the first time today. Piper didn't know what to say because she felt more or less awkward about the fact that she had acted the way she had done last night. She didn't know exactly what she had done but just the position she had snuggled into Alex while sleeping and where she woke up were enough for her to feel this way.

"Look, Alex… I'm sorry."

"For what?" Alex said with such a huge smirk on her face that it started to look weird to Piper. She had to look away for a while until she could look at Alex's direction again.

"I don't know what I did, but-", Piper could say before Alex interrupted her. She just couldn't stay quiet, she needed to make a bit of fun about Piper's night because it was funny to Alex after all.

"That's what I figured out", Alex laughed and kept on looking at Piper. She saw how a light pink color made its way to Piper's cheeks and brought her embarrassment into life. It was clearly visible how she felt bad for whatever she had done and it was funny to Alex. She decided to tease her a bit. "It's okay, don't worry kid. It was so nice to learn new things about you you haven't told me yet. I didn't know you can speak in foreign languages! Also, you're pretty clumsy and need quite a lot of help trying to stay up when drunk. And oh, I guess you like to sleep super close to people." With each word that escaped Alex's mouth Piper's eyes widened more and more. Suddenly her eyes didn't feel tired at all and she was just staring at Alex in a shock. Alex laughed at the swirl of emotions Piper had showing on her face. Piper squinted her eyes and opened her mouth, trying to say something but nothing clear managed to slip out.

"I… Oh my god. I can't believe I got THAT drunk, I'm so sorry you had to bear with me. I knew I was drunk but I swear I'm not clumsy when I'm drunk so I must've been really fucking drunk", Piper explained, her words stuttering and she was clearly feeling really uncomfortable. She was so stressed she had no idea what she had just said. She just knew that she said the word drunk for multiple times and it made her even more uncomfortable. She tried to think about something to say. "Did the foreign language happen to be German?"

"No", Alex answered quickly, leaving Piper hanging. She didn't know why but it was fun to tease her a bit. She knew this wasn't hurting Piper in any way so she knew she could play a little more.

"Okay", Piper said and looked away, thinking about it. "I've had a couple of German lessons in school so I thought it could've been because of that." Alex smirked at her and seeing that look on her face made Piper want to punch her. What was she doing?

"No, you spoke in the language of love", Alex said in a high pitch, closing her eyes and making it sound so sarcastic that Piper got confused about what she meant. She was clearly making fun of it, that's what Piper succeeded to find out by following the movements of the black haired woman next to her.

"The language of love?" she asked to clarify that she heard right what Alex had just said. Alex nodded and let her self-confidence shine through ruthlessly by staring at Piper and not feeling bad at all about it while she was looking embarrassed as hell. Piper tried to think about what Alex meant when she talked about the language of love but she didn't get it this early in the morning no matter how hard she tried. Instead of realizing she was talking about French the emotions of embarrassment, confusion and shame were prominent on her face when her eyes finally met with Alex's again. "Okay…"

* * *

 _ **She doesn't read the stars**_  
 _ **She has no time for fate**_  
 _ **She doesn't see the signs**_  
 _ **She has no time to wait**_

* * *

"…and then I ended up being the victim of Piper's cuddling", Alex finished telling the story about their, or Piper's, last night to her mother who was sitting next to her on the sofa. Piper was sitting there with them, eating her breakfast that Diane had kindly made for her and Alex both. Alex hadn't even touched hers yet because she had been too busy telling about their day and night to Diane. Piper had her mouth full of the most delicious pancakes Diane had made and just then Alex decided to talk about Piper cuddling her all night long. _Bitch_ , Piper thought jokingly and knew she had to say something.

"Oh c'mon Al, it wasn't that bad!" she tried to mumble because she had to correct Alex in case she was going to continue. Alex turned into Piper's direction and Piper giggled like a little girl, trying not to spat any of the pancakes out because it would've been just plain rude even though she knew Diane wouldn't have got mad.

"You weren't the one who was cuddle-attacked by a clingy drunk person so you can't really comment", Alex said and Diane laughed.

"I can't with you two", she said and got up from the sofa. She walked to the kitchen which was right next to the living room so she could easily hear and see what was happening in the living room. Piper finished her pancakes and put her plate down on the table next to the sofa. Her and Alex both laughed for a little while and Diane looked at their direction while getting apple juice from the fridge. She was truly happy to see her daughter enjoying Piper's company so much and even this early on in their friendship Diane could see how they both radiated happiness when they were around each other. She cared about Piper so much too, especially after hearing all the things she had been through in her life and how she was still holding on. Diane wanted to protect Piper at all costs just like her daughter did too.

"Thank you Diane, those were super delicious", Piper said and smiled her sweet, wide signature smile to Diane. She smiled back to Piper and got back to the sofa, drinking her juice. Apple juice was her absolute favorite.

"You're welcome! Alex has loved those since the day she was born", Diane said and at that exact moment her and Piper both turned their heads into Alex's direction and saw how she was guzzling the pancakes that were covered with strawberry jam, whipped cream and sugar. Diane laughed at what she saw and Piper followed right after.

"I happen to believe you", Piper chuckled after she saw how quickly Alex was eating the pancakes in front of her. Diane looked at her daughter for a while and was sipping her apple juice until she felt like she needed to say something to Piper about the day before.

"I know a little slap like that doesn't bother Alex too much but please tell us if your parents ever do something like that or worse to you, that's a whole another case. We're here for you and our home is your home, Piper. You're safe here, this can be your safe place if you want to", Diane said and looked Piper deep in the eyes. When Alex heard her mother talking about their home being a safe place to Piper she felt her heart missing a couple of beats because she realized she said the exact same words to Piper last night that Diane did now. Piper on the other hand looked even more confused and before she knew it she started to remember some of Alex's words from last night thanks to Diane saying them now. The whole situation felt weird to her and she didn't know how to act. Was it just a coincidence? She couldn't believe herself and thought it was just her mind playing with her but when she looked at Alex and saw her looking at like her mother like she had just seen a ghost it revealed to Piper that it wasn't just a trick of her mind.

"Thank you so much, Diane. I really appreciate it, thank you for making me feel so much better and cared about", Piper said to Diane with that famous smile of hers on her face. Diane nodded as a thank you to her and there were no signs on her face of knowing what Alex had said to Piper before. So, it was just a coincidence after all. Or at least that's what Piper thought.

"Girls!" Diane suddenly screamed and both Alex and Piper looked at her in a shock because they got scared by her screaming. Diane got up from the sofa, ran to her bedroom and came back as quickly as she left. While she did that Alex finished her pancakes and put the plate on the same table that Piper put hers, on top of hers.

"How does she have that much energy the first thing in the morning?" Piper whispered to Alex and she let out a quick laugh. That was the way Diane had always been - always so energetic and up early to make breakfast for Alex. She really cared about Alex so much and did her everything to give Alex a good life with better presumptions than what she had when she was young. Diane sat down next to Alex again and showed the girls two free tickets to a cinema later today.

"I have these two free tickets to the cinema, I've got some work to do today and I can't go so I thought if you'd like to go together? Apparently the movie is some kind of a romantic comedy but I guess that'd be a good way to clear your heads before the new school week!" Diane explained to the two girls sitting next to her and Alex got so visibly excited about the whole thing that she was about to rip the tickets from Diane's hands right away. Piper didn't look as excited. She knew about the movie because she had read about it online and she knew it was only for adults. She wanted to see it so bad but she didn't even begin to think about them getting in because she knew they wouldn't.

"Isn't it only for adults?" she asked and Diane and Alex laughed together. Piper looked at them, looking nervous. In that moment Alex saw a bit of the old Piper peeking through and she felt Piper's sensitivity filling the room. Piper was so responsible in everything she did. Alex thought it was because of Piper's upbringing and the way she had been taught to act at home and knowing what it had been like to Piper and what it had done to her she really admired the way Piper was.

"Phew, that rule has never limited the Vauses", Diane said and handed the tickets to Alex. She quickly hugged both Piper and Alex and rushed to her bedroom. "Just remember to put a lot of makeup on and it's not a problem!" she shouted and gave the two girls some advice on her way to her bedroom to get ready for work. Alex looked at Piper and saw how shy she looked all of a sudden.

"I'm not too sure about this, Al", Piper said quietly when Alex started to smile like a maniac with the tickets in her hands. Piper found it quite cute how excited Alex was about going to the cinema. It was nice how something that little made her so happy. Piper wanted to be the same way but in this thing she was doubting their chances to actually get in. And if nothing else would ruin it, Piper's own insecurities and awkwardness would.

"Stop it Piper, we need to do your makeup!" Alex said happily, got up from the sofa, took Piper's hand and dragged her to her room even though she hesitated.

* * *

 _ **She wants so much to please me she always does it right**_  
 _ **She wants so much to please me all day and every night**_

* * *

Piper wasn't the type of person who wore a lot of makeup and most of the times she went everywhere without any makeup. She couldn't say she was confident that way and she knew wearing makeup would make her feel more confident in her own skin but she just had never really got into it. She owned only a couple of makeup products but those weren't in a use too often either - only for special occasions, so very rarely. She had always been naturally beautiful; her lashes were strong, her skin was smooth and she just had that overall beautiful natural glow that was talked about in every women's magazine in a jealous way. She really was naturally beautiful and that's what her grandmother used to tell her too. Celeste loved seeing her without makeup and her constant talking about how beautiful Piper was without it made her believe it and she wasn't even too interested about makeup. Until now. Seeing all the makeup products that Alex dug out of the drawers of her table made her more than curious about them. She knew the basics of doing her makeup but that was it. She was staring at all the bottles, brushes and palettes in front of her eyes and was mesmerized. It wasn't a big surprise to her that Alex owned this amount of makeup because it was very visible from her face that she knew how to do it and her makeup was always on point. Since the day Piper and Alex started to hang out Piper had been blown away by Alex's makeup and especially her eyeliner had made Piper wonder was there anything in the field of makeup that Alex couldn't do. And now she wished she could do the same.

"I don't think I've ever seen you with a lot of makeup on", Alex said to Piper and turned her gaze from the makeup on her table to Piper. Now that she really thought about it she remembered only two or three times that she had seen Piper with some mascara and lipstick on.

"Yeah, I'm not used to wearing any. My grandmother used to tell me I don't need any makeup and that has stuck with me pretty well", she explained to Alex who nodded right away.

"I agree with your grandmother, your face really doesn't need any makeup", she answered and smiled. She really thought Piper was so beautiful that she didn't need makeup to enhance her face. "We need to do our makeups today though. It'll be so fun!" Alex continued. She looked at the makeup in front of her and took a little glass bottle full of foundation. The liquid was pretty light but not as light as her skin was. It was an old foundation that she had got from her mother but it had always been too dark for her so now she thought it could finally be useful because Piper was easily more tan than she was. "There you go", she said and offered the bottle and a brush to Piper. Piper didn't take the bottle. She just looked at Alex and smiled shyly.

"I don't really know how to do my makeup", she explained to Alex and could feel the light pink pushing its way onto her cheeks again. She didn't know why she was so anxious about admitting that to Alex because after all it didn't matter at all and she knew Alex wasn't someone that would judge her for it or for anything in general. Alex could see how embarrassed Piper was about admitting that and she had no idea why. She smiled at her and it really reassured Piper and eased her nervousness.

"Do you want me to do it?" she asked softly with a kind tone in her voice. It was something that Piper didn't know to expect. Even though she knew Alex wouldn't judge her about it she was reserved just like she was with every other human being. When she realized what Alex had suggested her eyes lit up.

"Would you really do that?" Piper asked and Alex nodded with a smile on her face.

"Are you kidding me? I'd love to do that!" she answered cheerfully and put the foundation bottle back to the table along with the brush. She grabbed Piper's shoulders softly and turned her to another direction. "I need you this way because the light is coming from that way", she said and lifted her hands from Piper's shoulders to point the window on the other side of the room. Piper looked at the window, nodded and watched carefully what Alex was doing so that she could then rehearse to do her own makeup later too. Alex noticed her following her every move and realized Piper wanted to know better how to do it all better by herself. "Do you want me to explain it to you at the same time?"

"Yeah, that'd be really nice", Piper answered to her and flashed a little smile. Ah, the smile that Alex always loved to see. The bit of happiness that was shining from Piper's face really made Alex happy too and she loved how Piper was so happy over little things like this. Alex took the foundation from the table she put it on and started to do Piper's makeup. She really enjoyed doing her makeup because she got to stare at Piper's beautiful face for a good while. It was enjoyable and exciting for Alex to do her whole face but especially her eyes. She was enchanted by them. Her eyes were breathtaking and Alex could've lost herself in those now that she had the chance to look at them so closely without it being awkward and Piper wondering what on earth she was doing. Alex's fingers travelled on Piper's face, sometimes enhancing her eyes, sometimes her cheeks, sometimes her eyebrows. Wherever Piper could feel Alex's touch on her skin, it sent little shivers down her spine. She hadn't had that kind of human connection in ages and it felt so good. It was even better because it was Alex. Her touch was so soft Piper could've fell asleep while she was doing her makeup.

* * *

Alex had done her own makeup after she did Piper's and it was safe to say they both looked super gorgeous. Alex had done her signature eye look to herself - the fleeky eyeliner and some warm brown eyeshadow. She had contoured her face with a darker brown powder that made her look more tan and the structure of her face to really stand out. On Piper's face she had done a more gold-toned eye look but without the eyeliner. She had used pretty much highlighter on her face because she thought there could never be enough. Piper was really happy with the outcome and thought it looked really pretty and so did Alex. They both had enjoyed the makeup session together so much that they would remember it for a long time. Now they were sitting in Alex's car, her driving and Piper sitting on the passenger seat. Alex had her black ripped jeans and a white t-shirt on but instead of the usual black leather jacket she had a light brown trench coat on. She felt a bit out of her comfort zone wearing something other than black and especially a color that was so light but she liked the way it looked. Piper had borrowed one of Alex's old dresses that she hadn't wore in ages and was a bit too small for her because of her height. The dress was just a basic black one, not too formal but relaxed enough for Piper's taste. Piper was short compared to Alex so the dress fit her perfectly and really made all the parts of her body that she thought were the best to stand out. She paired it with her sneakers and it looked very cute. Alex had silently and secretly admired how the dress looked on Piper. Suddenly Alex's phone started to ring.

"Vause, finally you answered!" Nicky's voice wafted from the other side of the phone and Alex starts to wonder how many times she had called her without her noticing. "I would've called your princess but I don't seem to have her number."

"Oh c'mon, shut the fuck up Nicky", Alex said to her and Nicky heard from her voice that it wasn't a joke that Alex necessarily enjoyed. In a slight shock Alex looked at Piper to see if she had heard what Nicky said on the phone but judging from the way her eyes were glued to her phone screen she had not. She didn't even notice Alex turning into her direction and looking at her. Alex continued speaking to Nicky, wondering why she called. "So, what's up?"

"Piper's mother called me to ask when does she come home from her so called sleepover", Nicky explained to Alex and she gulped heavily. She had totally forgotten that Piper's parents were possibly super mad about Piper leaving and especially Piper's dad. Alex imagined the way he could've acted when he found out Carol let Piper go out and she felt like a bad friend because she knew it was her fault.

"Shit", she spat out while driving when Nicky's words really hit her. That made Piper finally woke up from staring at her phone and look at Alex, questioning what the whole situation was about. But luckily Nicky had done something to save them already.

"I told her Piper's staying for another night or two so you're good to go. I saved your ass again, you owe me big time", Nicky said when she heard how worried Alex was.

"Oh god, thank you so much. I'll be sure to pay you back all of this, don't worry", Alex answered to her and the relief and ease could be easily heard from her voice. The emotions on her face changed quickly too.

"You better, me and Lorna were interrupted again… this time by Carol. So please don't expect me to answer the phone this evening, if you know what I mean", Nicky began to explain to Alex but she was interrupted. Piper wrinkled her face after hearing what Nicky said.

"Too much information!" Piper screamed to the phone from next to Alex after hearing Nicky and her inappropriate plans for the evening. She laughed and Alex joined her.

"I agree with Pipes", Alex said and couldn't stop giggling. "But thanks for calling, we're going to the cinema so I wouldn't bother to call you even if you wanted to!"

"Oh, a movie evening? Sounds hella cute", Nicky said and Alex could tell from her voice that she had the biggest smirk on her face at that exact moment she said it. Alex rolled her eyes because she knew what Nicky was thinking. And to be honest Alex wished she would stop but she also knew that turning everything into jokes was Nicky's way to get steam out of her system when she needed it.

"Thanks Nicky, bye", Alex said to her friend and when Nicky said bye to her she put the phone down. She looked at Piper and Piper looked like she heard what was going on in the phone after she woke up to Alex's cursing. "So, you heard?" she asked to make sure.

"Yeah, I did. I'm so grateful for Nicky, she literally saved my ass", Piper said and let out a nervous sigh. Piper really didn't want to go home. She didn't want to go to school either. She just wanted to spend time with Alex because right now that made her so happy and so carefree. Alex was the only person in the world that was so effortlessly able to take her thoughts to somewhere else and completely concentrate on the things that were happening around her instead of worrying about everything. Every minute Piper spent with her felt like hours, she really enjoyed her company and didn't want it to end. She felt like a whole another person with Alex, but in a good way. She brought out the best in her and taught her so much about life every single day.

"Don't worry about it, let's just not think about that for a while. Let's enjoy the movie!"

* * *

 _ **I never read the stars**_  
 _ **I have no time for fate**_  
 _ **I never see the signs**_  
 _ **I have no time to wait**_  
 _ **I am trying to be the one for her**_  
 _ **Trying to be enough for her**_

* * *

That was it about enjoying the movie. Piper couldn't enjoy it at all because during the 1,5 hours they spent in the cinema her thoughts were running around so recklessly that they didn't let her to concentrate on anything else than trying not to let them crush her. First she was surprised when they really got into the cinema but when the movie started she couldn't stop thinking about how wrong it was to lie like this and how they were going to pay for this someday. The old manners and rules her parents had taught her when she was younger were screaming for attention in her head and Piper wasn't distanced enough from them yet to being able to make them silent. She had no other choice than to let them bother her and when they finally stopped she couldn't stop imagining herself and Alex doing the exact same things together that the two main characters falling in love in the movie did. She didn't know why her mind was acting like that and felt really anxious because of it but luckily the cinema was dark and Alex couldn't see it all from her face. Piper knew she would never find another person like Alex in her life, there was something so different but yet so safe in Alex and the way she carried herself. Piper was so curious about her and wanted to just use all the time she had in the world to learn more about her. She cared about her more deeply than she ever thought she would and it was so important for her but at the same time it was tearing her in pieces. She felt like deep down she didn't know Alex at all yet but something about this beautiful human being had made such an inevitable impression on her that she couldn't let it all go so easily. Piper just couldn't stop comparing herself to Alex. She thought she would never be enough for her no matter how she tried because she was absolutely nothing compared to her. To Piper, Alex was strong, independent and extremely beautiful inside and out. She was destined to get through everything and to do big things with her life. Piper thought she could never be any of those things. She was sure she could never be enough for Alex. Alex would do just fine without her - just like everyone else in her life. But unlike with everyone else, Piper really wanted to try.

* * *

But little did Piper know Alex's head had been filled with the exact same thoughts during the whole movie. When they came back to Alex's house everything was just like it was before they left. They were sitting on the sofa together and Diane had came home from work too. She had told Piper that the makeup on her face looked so beautiful but Piper was the worst in receiving compliments so she had just explained to Diane that it was all thanks to Alex and her talent. Diane had told Piper that it was because of her beautiful face that but Piper couldn't agree. She didn't see it in herself. While Diane and Piper were talking, Alex was deep in her own thoughts. Unlike Piper's, her thoughts hadn't stopped running inside her tiny mind yet and they were driving her insane. If Piper wasn't there she would've talked to her mother about it because she was the closest person in the world to her and she could talk to her about anything but Piper being able to hear them talking made it all so much more dangerous that she didn't want to take the chance. Alex remembered that Nicky had said that she wouldn't answer phone calls but she needed someone and the only person she could think about was Nicky. She decided to text her because she thought that one text message wouldn't hurt too much. Nicky could open it when she saw it and wanted to, it wouldn't bother their evening. And if Nicky didn't have her phone on silent when they were enjoying each other like that with Lorna she was completely nuts. Alex took her phone from the table and left the living room to write the message, she needed some time alone. Piper noticed her leaving and looked at Diane. She was about to ask about it when Diane opened her mouth.

"I think she needs a moment alone", Diane said. She knew her daughter and the way she was so she could tell if something was bothering her. She also knew that she was really independent so whatever it was she was sure that Alex was able to clear it out by herself. That's why Diane decided to pay attention on Piper instead. "Would you like to eat something?" she asked, they went to the kitchen together and continued talking about the most random things ever while Alex was about to tear up in her room.

"Nicky, I don't know what the hell to do… I hate to admit this but I think you were right about it all yesterday. I like her. I really do. But I will never be enough for her. She's so fragile but in an absolutely beautiful way and I could never forgive myself if I broke her and I'm already seeing the shards. She's so strong, she's so affectionate and she enjoys the tiny things in life that make her happy. I wish I could be the source for her happiness. But I will never be enough. We will never be in love."

 _ **I will never be the one for her**_  
 _ **I will never be enough**_  
 _ **I will never be the one for her**_  
 _ **We will never be in love**_


End file.
